
\«\*** 



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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, 



■ ' shelf :^SAv 5,0 

: a_5-T 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



A COMPANION TO FOBES' "FIVE-MINUTE" SERIES. 



ELOCUTION SIMPLIFIED; 



AN APPENDIX ON LISPING, STAMMEING, STUTTERING, 

AND OTHER DEFECTS OF SPEECH. 
BY 

WALTER K. FOBES, 

GRADUATE OF BOSTON UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF ORATORY, CLASS OF 
1875, LEWIS B. MONROE, DEAN; AND AUTHOR OF "FIVE- 
MINUTE DECLAMATIONS," FIRST AND SECOND 
PARTS; "FIVE-MINUTE RECITATIONS," 
"FIVE-MINUTE READINGS." 









i ** 



BOSTON : 
LEE AND SHEPARD. PUBLISHERS. 



Til ^13°' 



COPYRIGHT. 

1877. 

By Walter K. Fobes. 

Copyright, 1892, by Walter K. Fobes. 



«K 






THIS LITTLE BOOK 

IS DEDICATED TO 

Prof. LEWIS B. MONROE, 

IN TESTIMONY OF APPRECIATION OF HIS MANY QUALIFICATIONS AS A 
TEACHER OF THIS ART, AND OF THE RESPECT AND AF- 
FECTION WITH WHICH HE WILL EVER BE 
REGARDED BY HIS FRIEND 
AND PUPIL, 

THE AUTHOR. 



PREFACE. 



" Why write this book ? " say you. 
" Because it is needed," say I. 

There is no "digest" of elocution that is both 
methodical and practical, and that is low in price, now 
in the market. 

This book is an epitome of the science of elocution, 
containing nothing that is not necessary for you to 
know, if you wish to make yourself a good reader or 
speaker. 

You who will thoroughly study and digest this book, 
and then put in practice what you here have learned, 
will have started on the road, the goal of which is 
Oratory. 



CONTENTS. 



*AGE 

PREFACE • 5 

INTRODUCTION 11 

ACKNOWLEDGMENT 15 

Method of Study of Elocution . • • • 15 



PART I. 



PHYSICAL GYMNASTICS . 
Attitude .... 

Standing Position . 

Speaker's Position . . 

Sitting Position . 

Changing Position . 

Poise of Body , . 

Rising on Toes . 

Holding the Book 

Note on Attitude 
Chest Expansion 

Active and Passive Chest 

Arms at Side 

Fore-arm Vertical . 

Full-arm Percussion . 

Hand Percussion 
Body Movements 

Bend Forward and Back 

Bend Right and Left , 

Turn Right and Left 
Neck Movements 

Bend Forward and Back 

Bend Right and Left . 

Turn Right and Left 

Note on Physical Gymnastics 



17 
17 
17 

18 
18 
18 
18 
19 
19 
19 
19 
19 
19 
20 
20 
20 
21 
21 
21 
21 
21 
21 
21 
21 
21 



8 CONTENTS. 

PART II. 

PAGE 

VOCAL GYMNASTICS . . 22 

Breathing 22 

Abdominal 22 

Costal ... o .... . 23 

Dorsal 23 

Puffing Breath 23 

Puffing Breath, with pause 23 

Puffing Breath, breathe between .... 23 

Holding the Breath 24 

Tone . 24 

Glottis Stroke 24 

Soft Tones ........ 25 

Swelling Tones 25 

Pitch 25 

Learn Scale 26 

Chant Sentences 26 

Bead Sentences ........ 26 

Inflection 26 

Major Falling ......... 26 

Major Bising 27 

Major Bising and Falling 27 

Minor Bising and Falling 27 

Circumflex ......... 27 

Monotone » 27 

Quality ... . . ^ . . . . o . 28 

Whisper . 28 

Aspirated . 28 

Pure 28 

Orotund 28 

Force 29 

Gentle 29 

Moderate „ 29 

Loud 29 

Stress 29 

Badical 29 

Median 29 

Terminal 30 

Thorough 30 

Compound • 30 

Tremolo 30 

Movement . 30 

Quick 30 

Moderate 30 

Slow 

Articulation 31 

Elementary Sounds 31 

Vowels 31 

Consonants * 32 

Summary of Physical and Vocal Gymnastics . 33 



CONTENTS. 9 
PART III. 

PAGE 

ELOCUTION 36 

Pleasant Quality 36 

Articulation 38 

Syllables , 38 

Words 38 

Accent 38 

Phrases 39 

Emphasis 39 

Sentences 39 

fulness and power 42 

Inflection 44 

Major Rising . . . . • . . . . 45 

Major Falling 45 

Minor Rising 46 

Minor Falling 47 

Circumflex 47 

Monotone 48 

Pitch 49 

High 49 

Middle 50 

Low 51 

Very Low 52 

Quality . 52 

Whisper 53 

Aspirate ......... 53 

Pure Tone 54 

Orotund 55 

Movement 56 

Quick 56 

Moderate 57 

Slow 58 

Very Slow 58 

Force 59 

Gentle 59 

Moderate 60 

Loud 61 

Very Loud 61 

Stress 62 

Radical 63 

Median * . 63 

Terminal 64 

Thorough ......... 65 

Compound 65 

Tremolo 66 

Transition • • • 66 

Modulation ......... 70 

Style 77 

Conversational ........ 78 

Narrative 79 

Descriptive ........ 79 



10 CONTENTS. 



Style (continued), page 

Didactic 80 

Public Address 81 

Declamatory 82 

Dramatic 83 



PART IV. 

HINTS ON ELOCUTION • . 85 

Defects of Speech •••••«« S3 



LNTBODUCTION. 



Rev. Dr. Hall of New York says, " There is one accom- 
plishment in particular which I would earnestly recom- 
mend to you: cultivate assiduously the ability to read 
well. I stop to particularize this, because it is a thing so 
very much neglected, and because it is such an elegant and 
charming accomplishment. Where one person is really in- 
terested by music, twenty are pleased by good reading. 
Where one person is capable of becoming a skilful musician, 
twenty may become good readers. Where there is one occa- 
sion suitable for the exercise of musical talent, there are 
twenty for that of good reading. 

"What a fascination there is in really good reading! 
What a power it gives one ! In the hospital, in the chamber 
of the invalid, in the nursery, in the domestic and in the 
social circle, among chosen friends and companions, how it 
enables you to minister to the amusement, the comfort, the 
pleasure, of dear ones, as no other accomplishment can ! No 
instrument of man's devising can reach the heart as does 
that most wonderful instrument, the human voice. It is 
God's special gift to his chosen creatures. Fold it not away 
in a napkin. 

" Did you ever notice what life and power the Holy Scrip- 
tures have when well read ? Have you ever heard of the 
wonderful effects produced by Elizabeth Fry on the crimi- 
nals of Newgate by simply reading to them the parable of 
the Prodigal Son? Princes and peers of the realm, it is 
said, counted it a privilege to stand in the dismal corridors, 
among felons and murderers, merely to share with them the 
privilege of witnessing the marvellous pathos which genius, 
taste, and culture could infuse into that simple story.'' 

11 



12 INTRODUCTION. 

Elocution trains the voice to obey the mind, and to rightly 
express thought and feeling. It is necessary to those who 
read or speak in public ; to persons with defective speech ; to 
those with nasal, shrill, throaty, or husky voices ; to persons 
with diseased throat, or liability to it, arising from wrong 
use of voice. 

The practice of the art of elocution is as necessary to the 
reader or speaker as practice of the art of singing is to one 
who intends to become a public singer. Any one attempt- 
ing to sing for the public without previous practice would 
be justly hissed from the stage : and a like fate overtakes 
most speakers, who, without previous study of elocution, 
attempt to speak in public ; that is, very few go to hear them. 

CLERGYMEN 

should learn to read impressively the Bible, Litany, hymns, 
and sermons : for as Dr. Holland says, " When a minister 
goes before an audience, it is reasonable to ask and expect 
that he shall be accomplished in the arts of expression ; that 
he shall be a good writer and speaker. It makes little 
difference that he knows more than his audience, is better 
than his audience, has the true matter in him, if the art by 
which he conveys his thought is shabby. It ought not to be 
shabby, because it is not necessary that it should be. There 
are plenty of men who can develop the voice, and so in- 
struct in the arts of oratory that no man need go into the 
pulpit unaccompanied by the power to impress upon the 
people all of wisdom that he carries." The same writer 
says of 

STUDENTS. 

" Multitudes of young men are poured out upon the 
country, year after year, to get their living by public speech, 
who cannot even read well. The art of public speech has 
been shamefully neglected in all our higher training-schools. 
It has been held subordinate to every thing else, when it is 
of prime importance. I believe more attention is now paid 
to the matter than formerly. The colleges are training their 
students better, and there is no danger that too much atten- 
tion will be devoted to it. The only danger is, that the 
great majority will learn too late that the art of oratory 
demands as much study as any other of the higher arts ; and 



INTRODUCTION. 13 

that, without it, they must flounder along through life prac- 
tically shorn of half the power that is in them, and shut out 
from a large success." 

TEACHERS 

should learn elocution so as to teach in a pleasing, effective 
manner; and also to teach reading in schools, so that 
children may learn to read in an easy, agreeable way, and 
give thought to what they read ; thus leading a child in all 
studies to get ideas from books, and not merely words with- 
out meaning. 

PUBLIC SPEAKERS 

should, by study of elocution, learn the best manner of 
moving, persuading, and instructing their audiences ; thus 
adding to their own popularity, and consequently widening 
their influence. 

LAWYERS, 

by practice of elocution, will find greater ease in speaking 
to witness or jury, and thus be greatly aided in their w T ork. 

ACTORS AND PUBLIC READERS 

lose both time and money by a neglect of elocution, the 
practice of which is essential to success in their vocation. 



SINGERS, 

by study of elocution, can best obtain that perfect articula- 
tion and elegant expression so necessary to the successful 
ginger. 

ALL PERSONS 

w T ho have a taste for reading should study elocution, as 
reading aloud in the social or home circle is one of the 
most instructive, pleasing, and healthful pastimes in which 
we can indulge. 

DEFECTIVE SPEECH, 

as lisping, stammering, stuttering, &c., can be entirely cured 
by a study and diligent practice of elocution. 



14 INTRODUCTION. 



UNPLEASANT VOICES, 

either shrill, nasal, throaty, husky, or with any other dis- 
agreeable quality, can be made agreeable by practice o£ 
elocution. 



ACKNOWLEDGMENT. 



I would here acknowledge my indebtedness to Prof. Lewis 
B. Monroe, Dean of Boston University School of Oratory, 
for what I have learned of expression in elocution ; to Prof. 
A. Graham Bell of Boston for valuable instruction in articu- 
lation and inflection; to Prof. Edward B. Oliver of Men 
delssohn Musical Institute of Boston for his most excellent 
instruction in tone. 

The method of study of this book is the result of the 
knowledge gained from these three superior instructors. 
The plan of Part Three will be found to be that of Monroe's 
Sixth Reader. 

METHOD OF STUDY OF ELOCUTION. 

Part First, a series of gymnastics to give strength and 
elasticity to the muscles used in speaking, to expand the 
chest, and to get a correct position of body, so that speaking 
may be without effort, and yet powerful. 

Part Second, a system of vocal exercises for daily prac- 
tice, to train the voice, and get command of tone, quality, 
pitch, inflection, force, stress, articulation, and right manner 
of breathing. 

Part Third, the application of the vocal exercises to the 
reading of short extracts, showing the effect when thus ap- 
plied, and showing the difference between the seven styles, 
— conversational, narrative, descriptive, didactic, public ad- 
dress, declamatory, and emotional or dramatic. 

References will be found to selections in my "Five- 
Minute" series of " Declamations, " "Recitations," and 
** Readings, 1 ' for practice in the different styles of expression. 

15 



16 ACKNOWLEDGMENT. 

Hoping this little book maybe of benefit to many, it is 
sent forth to help those who love the art, but with no 
thought of recommending this book for self -instruction, and 
substituting it for the instruction to be gained from a good 
teacher of the art. If a good teacher is not to be had, use 
this book. 

WALTER K. FOBES 

Cambridge, Mass., October, 1877. 



ELOCUTION SIMPLIFIED. 



PAET ONE. 



* PHYSICAL GYMNASTICS. 

Goethe says, " All art must be preceded by a certain 
mechanical expertness." 

You find it so in the art of playing the piano : the fingers 
must be made nimble, and the wrists elastic, before any thing 
else can be well done. In the art of singing you have to 
exercise the voice in many ways to get command of it. So, 
in the art of elocution, it is necessary to practise the 
mechanics of physical and vocal culture, that you may be 
prepared to express properly your thought and feeling. 

You need first a healthy body, elastic and strong in 
muscles, and especially in those muscles used in the produc- 
tion of voice. For this latter purpose I will describe as 
clearly as I can Monroe's system of gymnastics, and for the 
former recommend any other gymnastics that will give 
health, strength, and especially elasticity. 

ATTITUDE. 

1. Standing Position. — Hamlet, so Shakspeare tells 
us, ends a letter to Ophelia thus : — * 

" Whilst this machine is to him, Hamlet." 

Your body is the machine by means of whose working you 
express your mind and feelings. If you were to run a steam- 
engine, you would be very careful to place the machine in 
such a position, that it would do the most work with the 

IT 



28 ELOCUTION. 

least wear and tear. You must do the same with this 
machine, your body. To get a correct standing position, 
place yourself with back against a smooth wall in the room, 
with shoulders flat, your back as nearly straight as you can 
make it, and every part, from head to heel, touching the wall, 
This gives you an upright position, but feels uncomfortable, 
because the weight is too much on the heels. Swa}^ the 
whole body in its upright position forward, so that the 
weight will come mostly on the balls of the feet ; and, in 
doing so, do not bend any part except at the ankles. You 
are now in a proper position for speaking. The head is 
erect, shoulders thrown back, chest expanded, back nearly 
"straight, the weight of the body is about equal on ball and 
heel of the feet, and your poise of body as it would be 
naturally in the act of taking a step forward. This puts 
svery part of your body in the best condition for easy speak- 
ing. 

2. Speaker's Position. — This position should be as- 
sumed before an audience when some other position is not 
required for dramatic expression. It is the standing position, 
with the weight upon one foot, and the other advanced. Let 
the advance foot be about a heel's distance from the middle 
of the foot behind, and form a right angle with it. 

3. Sitting Position. — When you read in a sitting 
position, the body should be as in" speaker's position, and 
feet also, the poise of body being forward.^ 

4. Change of Position. — You sometimes wish to turn 
to address your audience at one side. To change gracefully 
from the speaker's position, turn the foot in advance on the 
ball, outward, until it becomes parallel with the foot behind; 
then take the weight on it, and turn the other foot till you 
have correct speaker's position. If, as you stood at first, 
facing the audience, your weight was on the right foot, you 
will find yourself facing to the right ; if the weight was 
on left, you will face left. When facing the audience, to 
change the weight from one foot to the other, take one short 
step either forward or back. 

5. Poise of Body. — To get steadiness of body, to keep 
a correct poise, and to prevent all unseemly swaying, when 
standing to read or speak, assume standing position, and, 
keeping feet flat on the floor, sway forward until the weight 
comes entirely on the ball of the feet. Don't bend the body. 
Then sway back to standing position. Then sway back- 



ELOCUTION. 19 

ward, keeping feet flat on the floor and the body straight, 
until the weight is entirely on the heels ; from that sway for- 
ward to position. 

6. Rise upon the Toes. — For the same purpose as the 
above. Assume standing position, and rise as high as possi- 
ble on the toes very slowly; then sink slow T ly so as to come 
back to standing position. Be very careful not to sway 
backward in coming dowm, and you will find yourself in the 
exact poise of standing position. Also do the same from 
speaker's position, rising on one foot. 

7. Holding the Book. — Hold your book in the left 
hand, on one side of the body, so that your face will not be 
hid from the audience. The top of the book should be 
about even with the shoulder. Many, in reading, hold the 
book in front of them ; but that is not so pleasant to an 
audience, and leads to a stooping position, a contracted chest, 
and ill health. 

Note. — All the foregoing exercises relate to position of body 
necessary for the most powerful, and at the same time the easiest, 
action of the vocal organs; also to the attitudes most pleasing 
to an audience when they look upon a reader or speaker. Prac- 
tise them until they become habits, and so unconsciously you will 
assume correct position when you stand. 

CHEST EXPANSION. 

For purposes of speech, you need to use more breath than 
for ordinary breathing or conversation. You therefore need 
to make as much room as possible for good fresh air by 
exercise to expand the chest. Elocution is beneficial to 
health for this reason. 

1. Active and Passive Chest. — Your chest in its 
ordinary position is what, in elocution, is called passive chest. 
The active chest is that assumed in the standing position, 
where the chest is raised up slightly and expanded, with the 
shoulders drawn back. Practise as an exercise the active 
and passive chest, alternating from one to the other without 
breathing, or moving the shoulders. The active chest must 
be kept in all the physical and vocal gymnastics, and at all 
time during speech. With practice it will soon become 
established as a habit ; and your every-day attitude will be 
more erect as a consequence. 

2. Arms at Side. — Place your arms at the side, with 



20 ELOCUTION. 

elbows bent, so that from elbow to hand the arms are hori- 
zontal, and parallel with each other. Draw the elbows back, 
clinch the fist with palms up, and make chest active, keep- 
ing the back straight. Take a full breath, and hold it (see 
" Breathing") ; then carry the arms at full length in front 
of you, your hands open and as high up as the shoulders ; 
then bring them back to the position you started from, with 
hands clinched, palms up, and pull back with all your 
strength, raising the chest slightly more ; then give out the 
breath. After some practice you may do it twice upon one 
breath, being sure to keep the arms as close to the body as 
you can; for, if you spread your arms, you will strain the 
muscles. 

3. Fore-arm Vertical. — Assume standing position, and 
bend the arms, placing them vertically, and parallel with 
each other, at the side, with clinched hands as high as the 
shoulder; turn the fist out from the shoulder, raise the 
chest as much as you can, and, taking a full breath, hold it; 
bring the arms forward so as to touch the elbows together, 
if you can ; then draw them back to first position, and pull 
downward and backward as hard as you can ; then give out 
the breath. After some practice, do this twice on one breath, 
being sure to keep the arms and hands close to the body. 

4. Full-arm Percussion. — In ordinary breathing, it is 
seldom you fill your lungs to their fullest capacity; and 
some of the air-cells are not filled, especially those at the 
extreme edges of the lungs. This and the following exer- 
cise are for the purpose of sending air into those portions 
of the lungs not ordinarily filled. Assume standing posi- 
tion; take a full breath, and hold it; then strike with the 
right hand upon the top of the left chest a very quick and 
very elastic blow, striking with fingers, and swinging the 
arm freely from its position at the side; then strike with 
left hand on right chest in same manner; repeat with each 
hand, and then give out the breath. Never strike with the 
flat palm or clinched fist, as that is very injurious and un- 
healthy. 

5. Hand Percussion. — Assume standing position, and 
place your hands on your chest, with elbows as high as the 
shoulders ; make chest active ; take a full breath, and retain 
it while you strike alternately eight light elastic blows with 
each hand; then give out the breath. 



ELOCUTION, 21 



BODY MOVEMENTS. 

The muscles of the waist are the front or abdominal, the 
side or costal, the back or dorsal muscles. These muscles 
are very important in speech ; and upon the strength and 
elasticity of these, and the inner muscles acting in connec- 
tion with them, depend the force and strength of your 
voice. Three very simple movements are here given, which 
will give some measure of strength and elasticity to these 
muscles. 

1. Body bend Forward axd Back. — From standing 
position bend forward, keeping the back straight, and bend- 
ing only at the hip-joints; touch the floor with your hands, 
if you can ; then assume upright position, and bend back as 
far as you can. 

2. Bend Right axd Left. — From standing position, 
bend to right side as far as possible, bending only at the 
waist, and stretching the costal muscles ; then assume lip- 
right position, and bend to left in same manner. 

3. Turn Right and Left. — From standing position 
turn the body on the waist, keeping the hips still, and 
twisting the waist-muscles, first to the right, then to the left. 

NECK MOVEMENTS. 

The neck movements are necessary, because many of the 
disagreeable qualities of the voice are due to inelasticity of 
the muscles of the neck. The movements are in the same 
directions as for the body. 

1. Bexd forward axd back. 

2. Bexd right axd left. 

3. turx right axd left. 

It is not necessary to describe them at length : but, in 
bending right and left, be careful to keep the head from 
bending slightly backward or forward at the same time ; and, 
in the turning of head, keep it erect. 

Note. — This completes the physical gymnastics. Practise 
them until the purpose for which they are intended has been 
accomplished, and afterwards occasionally, to keep what you 
have gained. Take each exercise two or three times in suc- 
cession. When thoroughly learned, this will not take more than 
five minutes. Practise them five minutes at morning and night. 



22 ELOCUTION. 



PAET TWO- 



vocal GYMNASTICS. 

You have no need to take any special exercise in walk- 
ing for the ordinary purposes of life ; but, if you wished to 
be a " walkist," you would need special practice to train and 
develop the muscles for that purpose. You may be a good 
singer, able to sing for your own amusement or that of 
your friends, without specially training the singing- voice ; 
but, if you wished to sing in public, you would, if you were 
wise, train your singing- voice very carefully. As in these 
cases, so with the voice in speaking. For all ordinary pur- 
poses of speech, you need no special training of the speaking- 
voice ; but when, as teacher, clergyman, lawyer, lecturer, 
actor, public reader, or in any other capacity, you are called 
upon to do more with the voice than others, you ought to 
train and develop your vocal powers. For this purpose, the 
following series of exercises are given for practice. 

BREATHING. 

As it is necessary that you should take in and give out 
more breath in speaking than at other times, you ought to 
be able to do this in a natural manner. If you will practise 
these breathing-exercises until they are easy for you, the 
breath in your reading or speaking will take care of itself. 
Practise breathing in the open air, and take in and give out 
the breath through the nose without making the slightest 
sound in so doing. 

1. Abdominal Breathing. — Take standing position 
and active chest; place the fingers on the abdominal 
muscles, and the thumbs on the costal muscles ; take a full 
breath, making the abdominal muscles start first, and move 
Dutward ; then let the muscles sink in as the breath comes 



ELOCUTION. 23 

out. Make as much movement of these muscles as you 
can, both in and out; and be sure you keep the shoulders 
from moving. Pay particular attention to the movement 
of the abdominal muscles, letting all the rest (except the 
shoulders) move as may be easy to you. Practise this way 
of breathing until you can do it easily; and, if it makes you 
dizzy, do not be alarmed, but wait till the dizziness is en- 
tirely gone before you try again. 

2. Costal Breathing. — Assume standing position with 
active chest ; place the fingers on the costal muscles, and 
thumbs at the back ; inhale a full breath, expanding as 
much as possible the costal muscles and ribs. In giving out 
the breath, make them sink in as much as possible. Keep 
shoulders still in breathing in and out, and let all other 
muscles be free to move as they may. 

:>. Dorsal Breathing. — Assume standing position with 
active chest ; place the fingers at the back on dorsal muscles, 
and thumbs on the side; take a full breath, trying to 
expand the muscles under your fingers as much as you can. 
Rightly done, the abdominal and costal muscles, and the 
ribs, will also expand; the chest, if not already active, will 
rise : the shoulders will remain quiet. In giving out the 
breath, let the chest be the last to sink. This is the way of 
breathing in every healthy man, woman, and child. Any 
manner of dressing the body that hinders free and easy 
action of the abdominal, costal, and dorsal muscles, and 
the ribs, leads to ill health, because it interferes with the 
vital process of breathing; and ill health is fatal to success 
in any art. 

4. Puffing the Breath. — Assume standing position, 
with active chest; take a full breath, and, rounding the lips 
as it' you were about to say the word "who," blow the breath 
out as you would in blowing out a light; inhale again, and 
repeat the pulling. 

5. Puff and Pause. — Puff the breath as before, three 
times, pausing about five or more seconds, holding the 
breath between the puffs. In holding the breath, let there 
be no pressure upon the lungs or throat, but control it by 
keeping the waist-muscles still. (See " Holding Breath." ) 

6. Puff and Breathe. — Puff three times in the same 
way as before, breathing between the puffs, thus : place the 
fingers of one hand on the upper part of the chest, the fingers 
of the other hand on the abdominal muscles ; keep the chest 



S4 ELOCUTION, 

still, and make the abdominal muscles sink every time you 
puff out the breath, and expand, every time you take in 
breath, between the puffs. In this exercise breathe through 
both nose and mouth. By practice of these three ways of 
expelling breath you get command of it. 

7. Holding the Breath. — When you hold your breath 
for a longer or shorter time, or try to control it for any 
purpose of speech, you should do so by means of the muscles 
spoken of in " Dorsal Breathing," as being the ones used in 
right manner of breathing. You must try to control the 
breath by keeping the waist-muscles still ; and there should 
be no feeling of pressure or uneasiness on the lungs, or in the 
throat or mouth. "If at first you don't succeed, try, try 
again: time will bring you your reward: try, try again." 
Get control of the waist-muscles so as to keep them still ; 
and, while you hold them still, there is no possibility of the 
breath getting out. 

TONE. 

A good tone in speech is as much to be desired as it is in 
song. Some have it as a gift of nature ; and all can acquire 
it, in a degree, by judicious practice. If you have an excel- 
lent voice, you can make it still more excellent by practice ; 
and, if you have a poor voice, you can, by practice, make it 
full, pleasant, and effective, and excel that one who has a 
good voice, but makes no effort to improve it. The tone- 
exercises here given are designed to give command of tone, 
and develop purity and power. They should be practised 
five minutes at a time, at four different times of the day, 
and double that time if possible, in order to get the greatest 
amount of good from them. Use any tones of your voice, 
high or low, without being at all particular about an exact 
musical pitch ; though, if you can practise with an organ or 
piano, you will find it much more beneficial. 

1. Glottis Stroke. — Assume standing position with 
active chest ; take full breath, and whisper forcibly the word 
" who " three times. Repeat the same. Now whisper 
"who " twice, and speak it aloud the third time ; then whis- 
per "who" once, and speak it aloud the second and third 
time; then speak "who" aloud three times. Now speak 
Si who " twice, and the third time say " oo " as those letters 
sound in the word woo ; then say " who " once, and " oo " the 
second and third time ; then " oo " three times. You 



ELOCUTION. 2& 

ghould make both the whisper and vocal sound very short 
and sudden, without any feeling of contraction or effort in 
the throat or mouth. It should seem to you as if the sound 
came from the lips ; and, while you are energetic in the exer- 
cise, it must be done with perfect ease. You have thus pro- 
ceeded, from an easy, forcible whisper, to an easy, forcible 
sound, and have thus obtained what is called the " Glottis 
Stroke." After diligent practice on the above exercise, use 
any of the short vowels (see " Articulation ") ; speaking each 
vowel three times very shortly, as you did the vowel- 
sound oo. 

2. Soft Tones. — Assume standing position with active 
chest, and take breath ; prolong very softly oo as long as 
your breath will let you, being careful not to force the sound 
to continue after you feel the slightest need of breath, and 
also not to change the position of the mouth from begin- 
ning to end of the sound. Repeat three times. In this 
exercise you will probably hear the voice waver, and find it 
difficult to keep it very soft, and yet distinct. Practice 
will overcome this, and the exercise will be found very 
beneficial. The ability to do it shows cultivation of voice. 
After some time, use also the long vowels. (See " Articu- 
lation. ") 

3. Swelling Toxes. — Assume standing position with 
active chest, and take full breath ; then begin the vowel oo 
very softly, and gradually swell it to a full tone, and then as 
gradually diminish it to the gentlest sound. Be careful, as 
in soft tone, as to breath, and position of mouth. After 
some practice, you should be able to continue on one breath, 
either the soft tone or swelling tone, twenty seconds , which 
is long enough for practical purposes. Use same vowels 
ai in soft tone. 

PITCH. 

It is necessary to all expressive reading that there should 
be as much variation in pitch of voice — that is, as to high 
and low tones — as possible, and not overdo. The pleasantest 
quality of voice, without variation in pitch, is tiresome to the 
listener. To get command of pitch, you must practise till 
the high and low tones are as easy to make as the common 
conversational tones. If you can sing the musical scale of 
one octave in key of C, or B flat, you will find these exer- 
cises more beneficial than if you cannot sing. If you cannot 



26 ELOCUTION. 

sing, take a relatively high or low pitch, as your ear may 
guide you, and practise the chanting and reading of sen- 
tences as well as you can. 

1. Learn the Musical Scale. — Sing the scale in 
music, using first the glottis stroke ; that is, speak each very 
short as you go up and down the scale. Then practise soft 
tone and swelling tone on each tone within compass of your 
voice. 

2. Chant Sentences. — Use one tone of voice, and take 
any sentence, prolonging the words without reference to the 
sense, without change of tone from beginning to end. When 
you use a high tone, make it light and clear ; when you use 
a low tone, make it full, free, and forcible. Chant on each 
tone separately within the compass of the voice. 

3. Read Sentences. — Use the same sentences as for 
chanting, and, beginning on each tone of the voice, speak it 
as you would in earnest conversation, in a way to give the 
meaning of it. You will see that if you begin with high 
pitch, although your voice varies in speaking, it will be a 
relatively high pitch through the whole sentence ; and, if you 
begin low, it will be relatively low. With high pitch, make 
your voice light and clear; and with low pitch, full, free, and 
forcible. 

INFLECTION. 

In inflection the voice slides up or down in pitch on a 
word, and by so doing impresses your meaning on the lis- 
tener. Inflections are infinite in number; but a few of them 
practised will be of benefit in getting command over them. 
When the voice slides up, it is called rising inflection ; if 
down, a falling. If it slides both ways on the same word, it 
is called circumflex ; and if it "varies but little, and is very 
like a chant in song, it is called monotone. A major inflec- 
tion gives an effect of strength ; a minor, of feebleness. 

1. Major Falling Inflection. — A falling inflection is 
indicated by ( v ) over the accented syllable of an emphatic 
word. If you do not already know the difference between a 
rising and falling inflection, suppose I say to you, " The book 
is on the table," and you, not understanding what place I 
said, should ask, " Where? " and I answer, " On the table." 
Your question would be made with rising, and my answer 
with falling inflection. Use any vowel-sounds, and practise 
the falling inflection as you would hear it on the word " table," 



ELOCUTION. 27 

avoiding all motion of head, arms, or body, and making it 
with much energy of voice, as if expressing strong determi- 
nation. 

2. Major Rising Inflection. — This is indicated by a (') 
over the emphatic word. Practise with any vowel-sounds 
the inflection as you would hear it on " where," as above, 
observing same directions as in major falling inflections. 

3. Major Rising and Falling Inflections. — Practise 
rising followed by falling, as oh, oh, ah, ah, awe, awe, &c, 
using long and short vowels. Then falling followed by 
rising, as oh, oh, ah, ah, awe, awe, &c, using long and short 
vowels. Use these as if asking a simple unimportant ques- 
tion, and giving a like answer ; then a question and answer 
of earnestness ; then of surprise ; then of great astonish- 
ment. In so doing, your voice will range higher and lower 
in inflection than you otherwise would make it. Do not let 
any of the inflections sound plaintive or feeble, but make 
them strong and decisive. 

4. Minor Rising and Falling Inflections. — Use the 
same exercises as under major rising and falling, just men- 
tioned ; with this difference, that you make them so as to 
sound week, feeble, plaintive, or sad. They should be prac- 
tised that you may become familiar with their sound, and 
have them at command, so as to use them when needed for 
expression, and avoid them when not. 

5. Circumflex Inflection. — This inflection is indi- 
cated by a mark (v A) or (J^) because it is a combination of 
rising and falling inflection. The first is rising circumflex, 
because it ends with the rising ; the second is falling cir- 
cumflex, because it ends with falling inflection. It is used 
in expression of doubt, irony, sarcasm ; as in " The Merchant 
of Venice," act 1, scene 3, Shylock says to Antonio, 
" Hath a dog money? Is it possible a cur can lend three 
thousand ducats ? " You will see, if read to express Shy- 
lock's irony and sarcasm, that the words would be inflected, 
as marked, with rising circumflex. Practise these circum- 
flex inflections with vowels as directed under major rising 
and falling inflections. The falling circumflex being the 
reverse of the rising, when once you are familiar with the 
rising, can be easily made. 

6. Monotone. — This comes as near to being one tone 
of voice as it can be, and at the same time keep its expres- 
siveness as reading. It is not really, as its name might indi- 



28 ELOCUTION. 

cate, one tone, as that would be like chanting in singing; 
but it is variation of inflection within very small limit of 
range in pitch. It is best practised as song, however. Pro- 
long, on a low pitch, any of the long vowels, about five 
seconds. The mark for monotone is (-) placed over a word. 

QUALITY. 

The quality of the voice is that which affects us agreeably 
or disagreeably ; and we say it is gruff, or husky, or harsh, 
or pleasant, &c. Four general and distinct qualities need to 
be practised until they are at command of the mind. 

1. Whisper. — Whisper the long and short vowels very 
easily and quietly at first, without the slightest feeling of 
effort in throat or mouth, and perfectly free from hoarseness 
or murmuring. As soon as you can make a clear whisper 
heard across the room, whisper so as to be heard farther off, 
and so proceed gradually, day by day, until you can whisper, 
clearly and without effort, loud enough to be heard in a 
large hall. Do not practise whispering more than three 
minutes at a time. 

2. Aspirate Quality. — This is what, in general, is 
called undertone. It is a mixture of whisper and voice, and 
is what you would be likely to use when in company you 
speak to any one with a desire not to be overheard by others. 
Practise with vowels as in whisper. 

3. Pure Quality. — Speak the long vowels in your con- 
versational tone as pleasantly as you can, tossing the tone 
lightly, as if speaking to some one across a large hall. 
Speak each vowel three times on one breath. Practise them 
first speaking shortly, then with prolonging of each tone 
not over five seconds. 

4. Orotund Quality. — This quality is seldom to be 
heard in uncultivated voices, but is much to be desired in a 
speaker. It can only be acquired slowly and with much 
practice. It will be easily recognized when heard, as it 
possesses a fulness and richness of tone very pleasing. It 
is not high, but seems low in pitch ; and, although it does not 
sound loud, it seems to be effective, and reach a long dis- 
tance. To acquire it, practise, as recommended in " Pitch," 
the chanting and reading of sentences on the conversational 
and lower "tones of the voice; also swelling tone under 
" Tone," on low pitch, using long vowels, especially oo, oh, 
awe, ah. 



ELOCUTION. 29 



FORCE. 

Force is the degree of loudness or softness we may give to 
the voice. You should be able to speak gently without 
feebleness or weakness of voice, and so as to be distinctly 
heard in a large hall, and also to make the fullest and loud- 
est voice without showing any effort to do so. 

1. Gentle Force. — Chant and read sentences, as under 
" Pitch," with the gentlest force you can, and yet make it 
so as to seem to be clear and distinct. Do this on every 
pitch you can, high or low. 

2. Moderate Force. — Read and chant as above on the 
middle and higher tones, with about the force of earnest 
conversation. 

3. Loud Force. — Read and chant as above, using only 
the middle and lower tones of the voice, making the loudest 
tones you can, without straining the throat. Force of voice 
depends on the management of the muscles below the lungs; 
and you should have perfect freedom from all effort on the 
part of lungs, throat, or mouth, on any pitch, high, middle, 
or low. If any effort is perceptible to you, it will be a feel- 
ing of strength and power at the waist ; and experience and 
practice must teach you how much or how little effort to 
make at that point. The loudest force, and at the same 
time the purest quality, is secured when it seems to make it- 
self without the slightest feeling of effort on your part. 

STRESS. 

Stress is the manner of applying force to a word or ac- 
cented syllable. Prof. L. B. Monroe, in his book on vocal 
culture, enumerates six kinds. The marks he uses to repre- 
sent them exhibit clearly to the eye what the voice is re- 
quired to do. With radical, terminal, and compound stress, 
after facility is gained by use of stroke from the shoulder, 
omit it, and do them forcibly without movement of any 
part of the body. 

1. Radical Stress. — So called, because the stress is 
on the beginning of the word, and marked thus (>). As- 
sume standing position with active chest, and take breath ; 
touch the fingers to the shoulder, and strike forward and 
downward, stopping the hands half way, and clinching the 
fist very tightly ; at the moment of stopping, speak the 



30 ELOCUTION. 

vowel "ah" very shortly. You will notice that the voice 
issues full, and seems to suddenly vanish in a manner well 
indicated by the mark above. Use any vowels, long or short, 
with middle pitch of voice. Practise afterward without 
any movement of the arms. 

2. Median Stress. — So called, because the force is on 
the middle of the word, marked thus (O). It is the same 
as swelling tone, but is much shorter. Practise with long 
vowels on middle tones of voice, making three short swells 
on the same vowel in one breath. 

3. Terminal Stress. — So called, because the force is on 
the end of the word, and marked thus (<). Use the same 
movement as in radical stress ; begin the sound softly when 
the hand leaves the shoulder, stopping it suddenly as the 
hands clinch. The voice seems to be jerked out. Practise 
also without arm-movements, using the same vowels as in 
radical stress. 

4. Thorough Stress. — So called, because the force is 
loud from beginning to end, and marked thus (~ — )■ Pro- 
long about ten seconds long vowels, with a loud full voice 
on middle pitch. 

5. Compound Stress. — So called, because it is a union 
of radical and terminal stress, and marked (X). The force 
is on both beginning and end of the word, and may be made 
by striking twice in succession, continuing the voice from 
radical. to terminal without pause of voice between the 
strokes. 

6. Tremolo Stress. — This is a trembling of voice, and 
marked thus (**»***). Prolong long vowels, making the voice 
tremble while you do so. 

MOVEMENT. 

Movement is the degree of rapidity or slowness with 
which you speak the articulate sounds. The danger in fast 
movement is, that you will not articulate plainly ; and in 
slow, that you will drawl. 

1. Quick Movement. — Use exercise of chanting and 
reading sentences, as under "Pitch," using the middle tones 
of voice; and repeat the words with the utmost possible 
rapidity, with perfect articulation. In chanting, do not mind 
the sense ; but, in reading, be particular to give the meaning 
of the sentence. 

2. Moderate Movement. — Use exercise as above 
about as fast as ordinary talking. 



ELOCUTION. 



31 



3. Slow Movement. — Use exercise as above, with very- 
slow movement of voice. In chanting, prolong each word 
about alike ; in reading, give good expression, and you will 
see that the more important words usually take the long- 
est time. 

ARTICULATION. 

Articulation is the utterance of the elementary sounds, 
which, when combined, make language. You have been 
using the sounds that make up speech, in combination, every 
day ; but it is a good practice to make each element sepa- 
rately. After you are able to make each sound distinctly, 
you will find you can make yourself understood in a large 
hall without using a loud voice. Your jaw, lips, and tongue 
should move actively and easily. For this purpose use long 
vowels, — No. 1, No. 8, No. II, — speaking them in quick 
succession, one after the other, making them distinct, and 
making the jaw and lips move as much as you can with 
ease. Continue to the extent of your breath. Then use the 
same with p, b, or m before them ; then with t, d, or n , then 
k, g, or y. Continue this practice about five minutes at a 
time, until the jaw, lips, and tongue will move with perfect 
ease. 

ELEMENTARY SOUNDS. 

In the exercises here given, use the sound, not the name 
of the letters which represents the sound, and practise sep- 
arately the sounds represented by the Italic letters below. 
The only correct way to learn them is from the lips of a 
competent teacher ; out you will do well, and improve, if you 
try the best you can in your way. 













VOWELS. 






Long. 






Short. 


Diphthongs. 


1. 


e as 


in 


meet. 


2. 


i as 


in it. 


8 1 . i as in pie. 


31. 


a " 


" 


may. 


4. 


e " 


" met. 


II 1 . oi " " 02'1. 


5. 


at " 


<< 


air. 


5. 


a " 


" at. 


8I 4 . ou " " out. 


6. 


e " 


(4 


her. 


7. 


a " 


" Cuba. 


!14. u u " you 


8. 


a " 


a 


ah. 


9. 


u " 


" u-p. 




10. 


a " 


tt 


awe. 


11. 


o " 


" on. 




12 u . 


o " 


tt 


oh. 


13. 


00 " 


" foot. 




12. ' 


o " 


(I 


ore. 










14. 


00 " 


(< 


woo. 











Glides. - 



- 1-14 of the vowels, and r when it follows a vowel, are 
by Prof. Bell called " Glides." 



32 




ELOCUTION. 






CONSONANTS OR ARTICULATIONS. 




Breath. 


Voice. 


Nasal, 


P^acc m Mouth 


P 


as in pay. 


b as in bay. 


m as in may. 


Lips. 


tch 


" " why.. 


w " " io ay. 




" 


f 


" " fie. 


v " " vie. 




Lips and teeth 


th 


" " tfiin. 


th " " then. 




Tongue " " 


t 


" " tie. 


d " " die. 


n " " nigh. 


Tip of tongue. 


eh 


" " c/iew. 


j " " jew. 
1 " " lay. 
r " " ?*ay. 






s 


" " see. 


2 " " zeal. 




(t a 


sh 


" " s/ioe. 


z/a " " azwce. 
V " " 2/e. 




it n 

Whole tongue. 


k 


" " key. 


r/ " (< <5fp. 


n<gr <f " sinor. 


Back of " 


h 


" " he, hay, ha, ho, is a whispered vowel; taking the posi- 




tion of the vowel following it. 





Of the vowels, the numbers indicate positions of mouth ; 
and, where numbers are alike, the positions are alike. Each 
vowel-sound is made by unobstructed sounds issuing through 
a certain position of mouth. The position is unchanged 
with single vowels, and those have but one number. The 
position changes in double vowels and diphthongs ; and those 
have two numbers, — one large, one small. As each number 
represents a position of mouth, you can easily see by com- 
paring what sounds are made from combining others. The 
number in the largest size type of the two represents the 
position that is kept when the sound is prolonged : as in 8 1 
prolong the 8 or ah, and make 1 or ee very short ; and in 1 14 
make 1 very short, and prolong 14. The positions represented 
by the small figures are called " Glides," because the position 
is hardly assumed before the sound is finished. Diphthongs 
are sounds made by combining vowel-sounds, as 8 1 ah-ee. 
Of the consonants, or, as well named by Prof. Bell, articula- 
tions, — because two parts of the mouth have to come togeth- 
er and separate in order to finish the element, thus obstructing 
the breath or voice, — those in line across the page with 
each other are alike in position of mouth ; those in first 
column are made with breath only, passing out through the 
mouth ; those in second column, with sound passing out 
through the mouth ; those in third column are sound pass- 
ing out through the nose. For instance, p, b, in, are in line 
with each other ; and, if you will make the three sounds rep- 
resented by those letters, you will see that the same position 
of mouth is assumed for each, and that p is breath forced 



ELOCUTION. 



33 



out of mouth, b is sound out of mouth, m is sound passing 
out of nose. 

Practise these sounds of vowels and articulations until 
you can make them forcibly and easily, with elastic move- 
ment of jaw, tongue, and lips; and remember that force 
depends on the strength and good control of muscles below 
the lungs. Then unite them by placing articulations before 
vowels, giving most force to the vowel, but make both clear 
and distinct. Then use articulations both before and after 
the vowel, still giving the vowel the most force, but mak- 
ing the articulation that begins and ends equally distinct 
and clear. To arrange these for your practice in this small 
book would take too much space. You have above each 
element of the English language clearly shown, and can 
easily combine them as directed. 



SUMMARY OF PHYSICAL AND VOCAL GYMNAS- 
TICS. 

PHYSICAL GYMNASTICS. 



1. Standing Position. 

2. Speaker's " 



ATTITUDE. 

3. Sitting Position. 

4. Change " 

5. Poise. 



6. Rise on Toes. 

7. Holding Book. 



CHEST EXPANSION. 



1. Active and Passive Chest. 

2. Arms at Side. 

3. Fore-arm Vertical. 



4. Percussion. Full Arm. 

5. " Hands on Chest. 



BODY AND NECK MOVEMENTS. 



1. Body bend forward and back. 

2. " " right and left. 

3. " turn 



4. Neck beud forward and back. 

5. " " right and left. 

6. " turn " 



VOCAL GYMNASTICS. 
Note. — Be sure and keep ACTIVE CHEST in all vocal exercises. 



BREATHING. 



1. Abdominal. 

2. Costal. 

3. Dorsal. 

4. Puff. 



5. Puff — Pause between 

6. " Breathe " 

7. Holding Breath. 



34 ELOCUTION. 

TONE. 

Note. — In following exercises use first long, then short voivels. 

1. Glottis stroke. Who, whispered, followed by short vowels 

quickly spoken. 

2. Soft Tones. Use oo-oh-awe-ah first, then any other vowels, 

3. Swell Tones. Use vowels as in Soft Tones. 



1. Learn Musical Scale. Practise Tone Exercise on each tone 

within compass of voice. 

2. Chant sentences on each tone. 

3. Read sentences, beginning on each tone. 

INFLECTION. 

1. Major, fall from different pitches. 

2. " rise " " 

3. " " and fall from different pitches. 

4. Minor rise and fall. 

5. Circumflex, rise and fall. 

6. Monotone, different pitches. 

QUALITY. 

1. Whisper. | 2. Aspirate. | 3. Pure. 1 4. Orotund. 

FORCE. 

Note. — Use exercises under Pitch, Nos. 2 and 3, with different 

degrees of force. 

1. Gentle. | 2. Moderate. | 3. Loud. 

STRESS. 

1. Radical. I 3. Terminal. 5. Compound. 

2. Median. | 4. Thorough. | 6. Tremolo. 

MOVEMENT. 

Note. — Use exercises under Pitch, Nos. 2 and 3, with different 
rates of movement. 

1. Quick. | 2. Moderate. | 3. Slow. 

articulation. 

Note. — Use only sounds represented by Italicized letters in the 
words and letters beloiv. 

1. Elementary Sounds. I 3. Words. I 5. Sentences. 

2. Syllables. | 4. Phrases. 

Long Vowels. 1. meet. 3 1 . may. 5. air. 6. her. 8. ah. 10. 
awe. 12 14 . oh. 12. ore. 14. woo. 



ELOCUTION. 35 



Short Vowels. 2. it. 4. met. 5. at. 7. Cuba. 9. up. 11. on. 

13. foot. 
Diphthongs. 8 1 . -pie. II 1 . o/l. 8 14 . oz^t. vl4, ?/om. 
Glides. 1. — 14.-r. 
Articulations. Lips — p,b,m-ich,w. Lips and Teeth — f,v. Teeth 

and Tongue — th (thin), th (then). Tip of Tongue — t,d,n-l- 

r-ch,j-s,z-sh,zh. Tongue — y. Back of Tongue — k,g, ng c 

Whispered Vowel — h. 



36 ELOCUTION. 



PAET THEEE. 



ELOCUTION. 

If you have faithfully practised Parts One and Two, you 
have gained some control of voice, and can now begin elocu- 
tion, or expression of thought and feeling. In each of the short 
extracts you will find some thought and feeling to express; 
and if you will take pains to understand thoroughly what 
you have to speak, and then speak earnestly as the thought 
and feeling prompts you, you will certainly improve. Speak 
to some person ; and, if no one is present, imagine that there 
is, and talk to them : for you need never speak aloud, unless 
it is for some one besides yourself to hear. Your first en- 
deavor as a speaker should be to make a pleasant quality of 
voice, so that you may make good listeners of your audience. 
The following exercises suggest pleasure, and let your voice 
suggest the sentiment. 

PLEASANT QUALITY. 

1. A merrier man, 

Within the limit of becoming mirth, 
I never spent an hour's talk withal : 
His eye begets occasion for his wit ; 
For every object that the one doth catch, 
The other turns to a mirth-moving jest, 
Which his fair tongue (conceit's expositor) 
Delivers in such apt and gracious words, 
That aged ears play truant at his tales, 
And younger hearings are quite ravished, 
So sweet and voluble is his discourse. 

2. There's something in a noble boy, 

A brave, free-hearted, careless one, 
With his unchecked, unbidden joy, 

His dread of books, and love of fun, — 



ELOCUTION. 37 

And in his clear and ready smile, 
Unshaded by a thought of guile, 

And unrepressed by sadness, — 
Which brings me to my childhood back, 
As if I trod its very track, 

And felt its very gladness. 

3. The scene had also its minstrels : the birds, those min- 
isters and worshippers of Nature, were on the wing, filling 
the air with melody ; while, like diligent little housewives, 
they ransacked the forest and field for materials for their 
housekeeping. 

4. Let me play the fool : 

With mirth and laughter let old wrinkles come; 

And let my liver rather heat with wine 

Than my heart cool with mortifying groans. 

Why should a man whose blood is warm within 

Sit like his grandsire, cut in alabaster? 

Sleep when he wakes V and creep into the jaundice 

By being peevish V 

5. Across in my neighbor's window, with its drapings of 

satin and lace, 
I see, 'neath its flowing ringlets, a baby's innocent face. 
His feet, in crimson slippers, are tapping the polished 

glass ; 
And the crowd in the street look upward, and nod and 

smile as they pass. 

6. How sweet the moolight sleeps upon this bank ! 
Here will we sit, and let the sounds of music 
Creep in our ears : soft stillness and the night 
Become the touches of sweet harmony. 

Look how the floor of heaven 

Is thick inlaid with patens of bright gold ! 

There's not the smallest orb which thou behold'st, 

But in his motion like an angel sings, 

Still quiring to the young-eyed cherubim : 

Such harmony is in immortal souls ; 

But, whilst this muddy vesture of decay 

Doth grossly close it in, we cannot hear it. 



38 ELOCUTION. 

7. A cheerful man is pre-eminently a useful man. He 
knows that there is much misery, but that misery is not the 
rule of life. He sees that in every state people may be 
cheerful; the lambs skip, birds sing and fly joyously, pup- 
pies play, kittens are full of joyance, the whole air is full of 
careering and rejoicing insects ; that everywhere the good 
outbalances the bad, and that every evil that there is has 
its compensating balm. 

For other selections, see Fobes' " Five-Minute " Series ; " Read- 
ings," pp. 5, 41, 67, 123, 142, 147, 173, 177, etc. ; " Recitations,' ; pp. 
61, 70, 92, 111, 116, etc.; "Declamations," First Part, pp. 98, 106, 
108, 133, 181, etc.; "Declamations," Second Part, pp. 1, 8, 19, 4o, 
174, 218, etc. 



ARTICULATION. 

With pleasant quality you will make listeners ; but you 
w T ill soon weary them, unless you make them understand by 
clear articulation. You have made the organs of articula- 
tion elastic by practice of elementary sounds separately and 
in combination. In combinations you have made syllables, 
and these syllables make w T ords, words make phrases, phrases 
make sentences, sentences make up a discourse, address, ora- 
tion, &c. 

Syllables. — Every syllable contains a vowel, or its 
equivalent ; as in the following word, which is separated by 
hyphens into syllables, — in-com-pre-hen-si-ble : you will 
hear a vowel-sound in each, the last syllable having the 
sound of / as an equivalent. 

Words. — A word may have one or moi-e syllables; and, 
when it has two or more, one of them will receive slightly 
more force than the others, as in the word "common." 
Pronounce it, and you will give more force to " com " than 
" mon." This force applied is called accent. 

Accent. — In pronouncing words, you will notice that in 



ELOCUTION. 39 

the longest words, even while you make each syllable dis- 
tinct, there is no perceptible pause until the word is finished. 
In words of two or three syllables you will find accent as 
above ; but words of four or more syllables have one ac- 
cented, and perhaps two syllables besides, that receive less 
force than the accented, but more than the others. Pro- 
nounce incomprehensibility. Properly done, you will hear 
that you give " 6iZ " the strongest accent, and "<om" and 
*• hen " slight accent, but more than the remaining sylla- 
bles, " in" -pre" " si" " i" " ty." The accent on "bU "is 
primary accent; and on the "com" and "hen" secondary 
accent. 

Phrases. — Two or more words make a phrase; and a 
phrase gives you an idea, perhaps, needing a number of 
phrases to make complete sense. You should speak phrases 
just as you would a long word, without perceptible pause, 
and with more force on prominent words than others. Here 
is a sentence composed of two phrases : " Fear the Lord, 
and depart from evil." A poor reading of this would be, 
" Fear (pause) the Lord, (pause) and depart (pause) from 
evil." A good reading would be, " Fear the Lord, (pause) 
and depart from evil." 

Emphasis. — As in words you have primary and second- 
ary accent, so in phrases you have what is known as em- 
phasis. In the sentence just given, the words that had most 
force were "Lord" and "evil;" and less force, "fear " and 
"depart;" and little or no force, "the" "and" and "from." 
You may call this primary and secondary emphasis, the 
primary having, as in accent, most force. 
: Sentences. — These phrases, or groups of words some- 
what connected in idea, make sentences ; and a sentence 
gives complete sense. As syllables make words, and in 
words you have an accented syllable ; as words make 
phrases, and in phrases you have an emphatic word : so, in 
sentences composed of phrases, you have an important 
phrase; and this important phrase must be impressed upon 
the mind of the listener more strongly than any other. This 
is done by slightly added force and a trifle higher pitch ; 
and, as you will readily see, the emphatic word of the im- 
portant phrase is the emphatic word of the whole sentence. 
Thus you have the structure of sentences; and, if you pro- 
portion your force w T ell, you will not fail to give the mean- 
ing correctly. In the following sentence, the phrases are 



40 ELOCUTION. 

separated by commas ; the emphatic words are in smah 
capitals ; the secondarily emphatic words are in Italics. 
First understand what the sentence means, then speak it 
as you would in earnest conversation, and you will be likely 
to give it correctly. 

"We all of us, in a great measure, create our own happi- 
ness, which is not half so much dependent upon scenes and 
circumstances as most people are apt to imagine.'' 

In this sentence the important phrase is, " create our own 
happiness ; " and the other phrases must be and are, by a 
good reader, subordinated to this one. This subordination 
of phrases to the principal one is made by lowering the pitch 
slightly, and lessening the force slightly on the subordinate 
phrases. It is naturally done if you'll talk the sentence 
understandingly. 

In the following sentences, — 

1st, Sound each element of a word separately. 

2d, Pronounce each word separately, with proper accent, 
being careful to give each element correctly. 

3d, Read in phrases, remembering that each phrase should 
be pronounced as a long word, without pause, and with 
emphasis. 

4th, Read in sentences, subordinating all other phrases to 
the principal phrase. 

1. When sorrows come, they come not single spies, 
But in battalions. 

2. There's such divinity doth hedge a king, 
That treason can but keep to what it would, 
Acts little of his will. 

3. Grandfather is old. His back, also, is bent. In the 
street he sees crowds of men looking dreadfully young, and 
walking dreadfully swift. He wonders where all the old 
folks are. Once, when a boy, he could not find people 
young enough for him, and sidled up to any young stranger 
he met on Sundays, wondering why God made the world so 
old. Now he goes to Commencement to see his grandsons 
take their degree, and is astonished at the youth of the 
audience. " This is new," he says: "it did not use to be so 
fifty years before." 



ELOCUTION. 4] 

4. Press on ! surmount the rocky steeps; 

Climb boldly o'er the torrent's arch : 
He fails alone who feebly creeps; 
He wins who dares the hero's march. 

5. Where I have come, great clerks have purposed 
To greet me with premeditated welcomes ; 
Where I have seen them shiver and look pale, 
Make periods in the midst of sentences, 
Throttle their practised accent in their fears, 
And, in conclusion, dumbly have broke off, 
Not paying me a welcome, trust me, sweet, 
Out of this silence yet I picked a welcome ; 
And in the modesty of fearful duty 

I read as much as from the rattling tongue 
Of saucy and audacious eloquence. 

6. Be not lulled, my countrymen, with vain imaginations 
or idle fancies. To hope for the protection of Heaven, with- 
out doing our duty, and exerting ourselves as becomes men, 
is to mock the Deity. Wherefore had man his reason, if it 
were not to direct him? wherefore his strength, if it be not 
his protection ? To banish folly and luxury, correct vice 
and immorality, and stand immovable in the freedom in 
which we are free indeed, is eminently the duty of each 
individual at this day. When this is done, we may ration- 
ally hope for an answer to our prayers — for the whole 
counsel of God, and the invincible armor of the Almighty. 

7. The quality of mercy is not strained : 

It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven 

Upon the place beneath. It is twice blessed, — 

It blesseth him that gives, and him that takes. 

'Tis mightiest in the mightiest : it becomes 

The throned monarch better than his crown : 

His sceptre shows the force of temporal power, 

The attribute to awe and majesty, 

Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings. 

But mercy is above this sceptred sway : 

It is enthroned in the hearts of kings ; 

It is an attribute to God himself ; 

And earthly power doth then show likest God's 

When mercy seasons justice. 



42 ELOCUTION. 



FULNESS AND POWER. 

Fulness of voice is necessary, that, when you are speaking 
in a large hall, your voice may be powerful. Most persons 
could make themselves heard, and, with good articulation, 
understood; but yet they would lack power, because the 
voice wants fulness. The extracts given below will suggest 
to you the necessity of a full voice to express them well. 
Observe these directions in trying to get a fuli, energetic 
tone : — 

1st, Correct speaker's position, take active chest, and 
keep it. 

2d, Take full breath, breathe often, and control it. (See 
" Holding Breath.") 

3d, Articulate perfectly. 

4th, Use conversational and lower tones of the voice. 

5th, Fix the mind on some distant spot, and speak as if 
you wished to make some one hear at that point. 

6th, Remember to be very energetic, and yet have it seem 
to a looker-on or listener- to be done without the slightest 
effort. 

1. O'Brien's voice is hoarse with joy, as, halting, he 

commands, 
"Fix bay 'nets — charge!" Like mountain storm 

rush on these fiery bands. 
On Fontenoy, on Fontenoy ! hark to that fierce huzza ! 
" Revenge ! remember Limerick ! dash down the Sas- 

senagh ! " 
Like lions leaping at a fold w T hen mad with hunger's 

pang, 
Right up against the English line the Irish exiles 

sprang. 
The English strove with desperate strength, paused, 

rallied, staggered, fled : 
The green hill-side is matted close with dying and 

with dead. 
On Fontenoy, on Fontenoy, like eagles in the sun, 
With bloody plumes the Irish stand : the field is 

fought and won. 






ELOCUTION. 43 

2. Thou too sail on, O Ship of State ! 
Sail on, O Union strong and great ! 
Humanity, with all its fears, 
With all its hopes of future years, 
Is hanging breathless on thy fate. 
We know what master laid thy keel, 
What workmen wrought thy ribs of steel, 
Who made each mast and sail and rope, 
What anvils rang, what hammers beat, 
In what a forge and what a heat 

Were shaped the anchors of thy hope. 

3. Oh ! young Lochinvar is come out of the west : 
Through all the wide border his steed was the best ; 
And, save, his good broad-sword, he weapon had none , 
He rode all unarmed, and he rode all alone. 

So faithful in love, and so dauntless in war, 
There never was knight like the young Lochinvar. 

4. One song employs all nations: and all cry, 

" Worthy the Lamb, for he was slain for us ! " 
The dwellers in the vales and on the rocks 
Shout to each other ; and the mountain-tops 
From distant mountains catch the flying joy; 
Till, nation after nation taught the strain, 
Earth rolls the rapturous hosanna round. 

5. " But I defy him ! — let him come ! " 

Down rang the massy cup, 
While from its sheath the ready blade 

Came flashing half way up ; 
And, with the black and heavy plumes 

Scarce trembling on his head, 
There, in his dark, carved, oaken chair, 

Old Rudiger sat — dead ! 

6. All hail to our glorious ensign ! Courage to the heart, 
«nd strength to the hand, to which in all time it shall be 
in crusted ! May it ever wave in honor, in unsullied glory, 
and patriotic hope, on the dome of the capitol, on the coun- 
try's stronghold, on the entented plain, on the wave-rocked 
topmast ! 



44 ELOCUTION. 

7. Rejoice, y\*a men of Angiers! ring your bells! 

King John, your king and England's, doth approach, 

Commander of this hot malicious day ! 

Their armors that marched hence so silver bright 

Hither return all gilt with Frenchmen's blood ; 

There stuck no plume in any English crest 

That is removed by a staff of France ; 

Our colors do return in those same hands 

That did display them when we first marched forth ; 

And, like a jolly troop of huntsmen, come 

Our lusty English, all with purpled hands 

Dyed in the dying slaughter of their foes. 

INFLECTION. 

Inflection is a slide of voice,' either up or down in pitch, 
or both, on the accented syllable of a word. You have 
learned in previous pages what kinds there are. Major 
inflections express strength : minor express weakness. 

Rising inflections refer to something to come that shall 
complete the sense. If you speak a phrase that needs another 
to complete its meaning, you will use a rising inflection to 
connect them. If you defer to another's will, opinion, or 
knowledge, in what you say, you will use a rising inflection. 
If you speak of two or more things, thinking of them as a 
w T hole, and not separately, you use a rising inflection. 

.Falling inflections are used when a phrase or sentence is 
complete in itself. If you state your own will, opinion, or 
knowledge, you will use falling inflection. If you speak of 
two or more things separately, wishing to make each one by 
itself distinct in the hearer's mind, you will use falling 
inflections. 

Circumflex inflections, being composed of rising and fall- 
ing inflections combined, are doubtful in meaning; for if 
rising means one thing, and falling means another, a combi- 
nation must mean doubt. It expresses irony, sarcasm, &c. 

Monotone is a varying of inflection within very narrow 
limits, and conies as near to chanting as the voice can, and 
still retain the expressiveness of inflection in speech. It 
expresses any slow-moving emotions, as grandeur, awe, 
solemnity, &c. 

Practise the short extracts under each head until you are 
sure you give the right inflection in the right place. 



ELOCUTION. 45 



MAJOR RISING INFLECTION. 

1. Would the influence of the Bible,, even if it were not 
the record of a divine revelation, be to render princes more 
tyrannical, or subjects more ungovernable ; the rich more 
insolent, or the poor more disorderly ? Would it make worse 
parents or children, husbemds or wives, masters or servants, 
friends or neighbors ? 

2. But why pause here ? Is so much ambition praise- 
worthy, and more criminal ? Is it fixed in nature that the 
limits of this empire should be Egypt on the one hand, the 
Hellespont and Euxine on the other ? Were not Suez and 
Armenia more natural limits ? Or hath empire no natural 
limit, but is broad as the genius that can devise, and the 
power that can win ? 

3. Shine they for aught but earth, 

These silent stars ? 
And, when they sprang to birth, 

Who broke the bars 
And let their radiance out 

To kindle space, 
When rang God's morning shout 

O'er the glad race ? 
Are they all desolate, 
N These silent stars ; 
Hung in their spheres by fate, 

Which nothing mars V 
Or are they guards of God, 

Shining in prayer, 
On the same path they've trod 

Since light was there ? 

MAJOR FALLING INFLECTIONS. 

1. Stand up erect ! Thou hast the form 
And likeness of thy God : who more ? 
A soul as dauntless mid the storm 
Of daily life, a heart as warm 
And pure, as breast e'er wore, 



46 ELOCUTION. 

2. Make yourself nests of pleasant thoughts. None of 
us yet know, for none of us have been taught in early youth, 
what fair palaces we may build of beautiful thoughts, proof 
against all adversity. Bright fancies, satisfied memories, 
noble histories, faithful sayings, treasure-houses of precious 
and restful thoughts, which care cannot disturb, nor pain 
make gloomy, nor poverty take away from us — houses 
uuilt without hands, for our souls to live in. 



3. Mahomet still lives in his practical and disastrous in- 
fluence in the East. Napoleon still is France, and France 
is almost Napoleon. Martin Luther's dead dust sleeps at 
Wittenberg; but Martin Luther's accents still ring through 
the churches of Christendom. ShakSpeare, Byron, and 
Milton, all live in their influence, — for good or evil. The 
apostle from his chair, the minister from his pulpit, the 
martyr from his flame-shroud, the statesman from his cabi- 
net, the soldier in the field, the sailor on the deck, who all 
have passed away to their graves, still live in the practical 
deeds that they did, in the lives they lived, and in the power- 
ful lessons that they left behind them. 

MINOR RISING INFLECTIONS. 

1. "Let me see him once before he dies? Let me hear 
his voice once more ? I entreat you, let me enter." 

2. Stay, lady, stay, for mercy's sake, 

And hear a helpless orphan's tale ! 
Ah ! sure my looks must pity wake : 

'Tis want that makes my cheek so pale. 
Yet I was once a mother's pride, 

And my brave father's hope and joy ; 
But in the Nile's proud fight he died, 

And I am now an orphan-boy. 

3. They answer, " Who is God that he should hear us 
W r hile the rushing of the iron wheels is stirred? 
When we sob aloud, the human creatures near us 
Pass by, hearing not. or answer not a word. 
Is it likely God, with angels singing round him. 
Hears our weeping, any more ? " 



ELOCUTION. 47 



MINOR FALLING INFLECTIONS. 

1. God forbid that we should outlive the love of our chil- 
dren ! Rather let us die while their hearts are a part of 
our own, that our grave may be watered with their tears, 
and our love linked with their hopes of heaven. 

2. Her suffering ended with the day; 
Yet lived she at its close, 
And breathed the long, long night away 
In statue-like repose. 

But, when the sun in all his state 

Illumed the eastern skies, 
She passed through glory's morning-gate, 

And walked in paradise. 

3. Father cardinal, I have heard you say 

That we shall see and know our friends in heaven. 

If that be true, I shall see my boy again ; 

For since the birth of Cain, the first male child, 

To him that did but yesterday suspire, 

There was not such a gracious creature born. 

But now will canker-sorrow eat my bud, 

And chase the native beauty from his cheek ; 

And he will look as hollow as a ghost, 

As dim and meagre as an ague's fit : 

And so he'll die ; and, rising so again, 

When I shall meet him in the court of heaven 

I shall not know him : therefore never, never 

Must I behold my pretty Arthur more. 

CIRCUMFLEX INFLECTION. 

1. Were I in England now (as once I was), and had but 
this fish painted, not a holiday-fool there but would give a 
piece of silver. There would this monster make a man : any 
strange beast there makes a man. When they will not give 
a doit to relieve a lame beggar, they will lay out ten to see 
a dead Indian. 

2. If to do were as easy as to know what were good to 
do, chapels had been churches, and poor men's cottages 



48 ELOCUTION. 

princes' palaces. It is a good divine that follows his own 
instructions. I can easier teach twenty what were good to 
be done than be one of the twenty to follow mine own 
teaching. The brain may devise laws for the blood ; but a 
hot temper leaps over a cold decree : such a hare is mad- 
ness the youth to skip o'er the meshes of good counsel the 
cripple. 

3. " Hold, there ! " the other quick replies : 
" 'Tis green : I saw it with these eyes, 
As late with open mouth it lay, 
And warmed it in the sunny ray. 
Stretched at its ease, the beast I viewed, 
And saw it eat the air for food/' 

" I've seen it, sir, as well as you, 
And must again affirm it blue : 
At leisure I the beast surveyed, 
Extended in the cooling shade." 

" 'Tis green, 'tis green, sir, I assure ye ! " 
" Green ! " cries the other in a fury : 
« Why, sir ! d'ye think I've lost my eyes ? " 
" 'Twere no great loss," the friend replies ; 
" For, if they always serve you thus, 
You'll find them of but little use." 

MONOTONE. 

1. When for me the silent oar 

Parts the Silent River, 
And I stand upon the shore 

Of the strange Forever, 
Shall I miss the loved and known ? 
Shall I vainly seek mine own ? 

2. Ye golden lamps of heaven, farewell, with all your 

feeble light ! 
Farewell, thou ever-changing moon, pale empress of 

the night ! 
And thou, effulgent orb of day, in brighter flames 

arrayed, 
My soul, which springs beyond thy sphere, no more 

demands thy aid. 
Ye stars are but the shining dust of my divine abode. 
The pavement of those heavenly courts where I shall 

reign with God. 



ELOCUTION. 49 

o. Father of earth and heaven, I call thy name! 
Round nie the smoke and shout of battle roll ; 
My eyes are dazzled with the rustling flame : 
Father, sustain an untried soldier's soul. 
Or life or death, whatever be the goal 
That crowns or closes round this struggling hour, 
Thou know'st, if ever from my spirit stole 
One deeper prayer, 'twas that no cloud might lower 
On my young fame. Oh, hear, God of eternal power! 

PITCH. 

The general pitch of voice varies with the emotion. Some- 
feelings we are prompted to express in the high tones, as 
joy ; some in the lower tones, as awe : but. without practice, 
very few have command of the higher and lower tones; and, 
when they attempt to read, they cannot give the requisite 
variety to make it expressive. It is important that these 
exercises should be studied until you can as easily read in 
your highest and lowest tones as in your natural conversa- 
tional or middle tones. 

In high pitch, read in as high pitch as you can, and at the 
same time keep the tone pure, and you will find your voice 
gradually gain in compass. 

In middle pitch, read in your conversational tone, with 
earnestness. 

In low pitch, read somewhat lower than middle pitch, 
and make as full a tone as you can. 

In very low pitch, read as low in pitch as you can with 
ease, and do not try to make it loud or full until you have 
had considerable practice. Don't pinch or strain the throat; 
if you do, the quality will be bad. 

HIGH PITCH. 

1. Merrily swinging on brier and weed, 
Xear to the nest of his little dame, 
Over the mountain-side or mead. 
Robert of Lincoln is telling his name,- 
Bob-o-link, bob-o-link, 
Spink, spank, spink ! 
Snug and safe is that nest of curs 
Hidden among the summer flowers : 
Chee, chee, chee 1 



50 ELOCUTION. 

3. Oh ! did you see him riding down, 
And riding down, while all the town 
Came out to see, came out to see, 
And all the bells rang mad with glee? 

Oh ! did you hear those bells ring out, 
The bells ring out, the people shout ? 
And did you hear that cheer on cheer 
That over all the bells rang clear ? 

3. I am that merry wanderer of the night: 
I jest to Oberon, and make him smile, 
When I, a fat and bean-fed horse, beguile, 
Neighing in likeness of a silly foal. 
And sometimes lurk I in a gossip's bowl, 
In very likeness of a roasted crab ; 
And, when she drinks, against her lips I bob, 
And on her withered dew-lap pour the ale. 

MIDDLE PITCH. 

1. The honey-bee that wanders all day long 
The field, the woodland, and the garden o'er, 
To gather in his fragrant winter-store, 
Humming in calm content his quiet song, 
Sucks not alone the rose's glowing breast, 
The lily's dainty cup, the violet's lips ; 
But from all rank and noisome w r eeds he sips 
The single drop of sweetness ever pressed 
Within the poison chalice. Thus, if we 
Seek only to draw forth the hidden sweet 
In all the varied human flowers we meet 
In the wide garden of Humanity, 
And, like the bee, if home the spoil we bear. 
Hived in our hearts, it turns to nectar there. 

2. Now the laughing, jolly Spring began to show hoi 
buxom face in the bright morning. The buds began slowly 
to expand their close winter folds, the dark and melancholy 
woods to assume an almost imperceptible purple tint ; and 
here and there a little chirping blue-bird hopped about the 
orchards. Strips of fresh green appeared along the brooks, 
now released from their icy fetters ; and nests of little 



ELOCUTION. 51 

variegated flowers, nameless, yet richly deserving a name, 
sprang up in the sheltered recesses of the leafless woods. 

3. I know, the more one sickens, the worse at ease he is-, 
and that he that wants money, means, and content, is with- 
out three good friends ; that the property of rain is to 
wet, and fire to burn ; that good pasture makes fat sheep, 
and that a great cause of the night is lack of the sun ; 
that he that hath learned no wit by nature or art may 
complain of good breeding, or comes of a very dull kindred- 

LOW PITCH. 

1. Mid the flower-wreathed tombs I stand, 
Bearing lilies in my hand. 
Comrades, in what soldier-grave 
Sleeps the bravest of the brave ? 

Is it he who sank to rest 
With his colors round his breast ? 
Friendship makes his tomb a shrine : 
Garlands veil it ; ask not mine. 

2. God, thou art merciful. The wintry storm, 
The cloud that pours the thunder from its womb, 
But show the sterner grandeur of thy form. 

The lightnings glancing through the midnight gloom, 
To Faith's raised eye as calm, as lovely, come 
As splendors of the autumnal evening star, 
As roses shaken by the breeze's plume, 
When like cool incense comes the dewy air, 
And on the golden wave the sunset burns afar. 

3. O thou Eternal One ! whose presence bright 
All space doth occupy, all motion guide ; 
Unchanged through Time's all-devastating flight ; 
Thou only God ! — there is no God beside ! 
Being above all beings ! Three-in-one ! 

Whom none can comprehend, and none explore ; 
Who fill'st existence with Thyself alone ; 
Embracing all, supporting, ruling o'er; 
Being whom we call God, and know no more ! 



52 ELOCUTION. 



VERY LOW PITCH. 

1. When in the silent night all earth lies hushed 
In slumber ; when the glorious stars shine out, 
Each star a sun, each sun a central light 
Of some fair system, ever wheeling on 
In one unbroken round, and that again 
Revolving round another sun ; while all, 
Suns, stars, and systems, proudly roll along 
In one majestic, ever-onward course, 
In space un circumscribed and limitless, — 
Oh ! think you then the undebased soul 
Can calmly give itself to sleep, — to rest ? 

2. Go stand upon the heights at Niagara, and listen in 
awe-struck silence to that boldest, most earnest and elo- 
quent, of all Nature's orators ! And what is Niagara, with 
its plunging waters and its mighty roar, but the oracle of 
God, the whisper of His voice who is revealed in the Bible 
as sitting above the water-floods forever ? 

3. The drums are all muffled ; the bugles are still ; 
There's a pause in the valley, a halt on the hill ; 
And the bearers of standards swerve back with a thrill 

Where the sheaves of the dead bar the way : 
For a great field is reaped, heaven's garners to fill ; 
And stern Death holds his harvest to-day. 

QUALITY. 

As there are all kinds and qualities of emotions, so there 
are all kinds and qualities of voice to express them. The 
shade and varieties of these qualities are as infinite in num- 
ber as the emotions they express. We need, however, iis 
practice, to make but four general divisions, — w T hisper, aspi 
rate, pure, and orotund. The whisper expresses secrecy v 
fear, and like emotions. It is seldom required in reading, 
as the aspirate is expressive of the same, and you would ba 
likely to use that instead of whisper. You should practise 
the w^hisper until you can make it very clear, and free from 
all impurity, or sound of throat, and full, so as to be heard 
at a distance. In both whisper and aspirate leave the throat 
free and open ; and be energetic, remembering that force is 



ELOCUTION. 53 

made by control of muscles at the waist, and not by effort 
of throat or mouth. The clearer you can make a whisper, 
the better quality you can make in pure and orotund. Pure 
tone or quality is sound made with no disagreeable quality 
being heard ; and is the same as pleasant quality, spoken of 
as being necessary to make listeners. Pure quality is made 
with ease, with no waste of breath, and is used for expres- 
sion of agreeable feelings. Orotund is a magnified, pure 
tone, and adds richness and power to the voice in speech. It 
is the expression of intense feelings, usually slow in move- 
ment, as grandeur, sublimity, awe, &c. It can only be ob- 
tained by much practice and much patience, allowing the 
voice to grow in fulness, as it will in time, if practice con- 
tinues. 

WHISPER. 

1. Deep stillness fell on all around : 
Through that dense crowd was heard no sound 

Of step or word. 

2. How dark it is ! I cannot seem to see 
The faces of my flock. Is that the sea 
That murmurs so? or is it weeping? Hush, 
My little children ! God so loved the world, 
He gave his Son : so love ye one another. 
Love God and man. Amen ! 

3. Hush ! 'tis a holy hour ! The quiet room 

Seems like a temple ; while yon soft lamp sheds 
A faint and starry radiance through the gloom 

And the sweet stillness down on bright young heads ; 
With all their clustering locks untouched by care, 
And bowed, as flowers are bowed with night,^ in prayer 

ASPIRATE. 

1. Hush ! draw the curtain, — so ! 
She is dead, quite dead, you see. 
Poor little lady ! She lies 
With the light gone out of her eyes ; 
But her features still wear that soft, 
Gray, meditative expression 
Which you must have noticed oft. 



U ELOCUTION. 

2. Lord of the winds ! I feel thee nigh ; 
I know thy breath in the burning sky ; 
And I wait with a thrill in every vein 
For the coming of the hurricane. 
And, lo ! on the wing of the heavy gales. 
Through the boundless arch of heaven, he sails : 
Silent and slow, and terribly strong, 
The mighty shadow is borne along, 
Like the dark eternity to come ; 
While the world below, dismayed and dumb, 
Through the calm of the thick hot atmosphere 
Looks up at its gloomy folds with fear. 

3. 'Tis midnight's holy hour; and silence now 
Is brooding like a gentle spirit o'er 
The still and pulseless world. Hark ! on the winds 
The bell's deep tones are swelling : 'tis the knell 
Of the departed year. No funeral train 
Is sweeping past : yet on the stream and wood, 
With melancholy light, the moonbeams rest 
Like a pale, spotless shroud ; the air is stirred 
As by a mourner's sigh ; and on yon cloud, 
That floats so still and placidly through heaven, 
The spirits of the seasons seem to stand, — 
Young Spring, bright Summer, Autumn's solemn form, 
And Winter with its aged locks, — and breathe, 
In mournful cadences that come abroad 
Like the far wind-harp's wild and touching wail, 
A melancholy dirge o'er the dead year, 
Gone from the earth forever. 



PURE. 

1. Your voiceless lips, O flowers ! are living preachers, 
Each cup a pulpit, and each leaf a book, 
Supplying to my fancy numerous teachers 
In loneliest nook. 

2. Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky, 
The flying cloud, the frosty light; 
The year is dying in the night: 
Ring out, wild bells, and let him die. 



ELOCUTION. 55 

Ring out the old ; ring in the new ; 

Ring, happy bells, across the snow: 

The year is going ; let him go : 
Ring out the false, ring in the true. 

0. Was it the chime of a tiny bell 

That came so sweet to my dreaming ear, 
Like the silvery tones of a fairy's shell, 

That he winds on the beach, so mellow and clear, 
When the winds and the waves lie together asleep, 
And the moon and the fairy are watching the deep, — 
She dispensing her silvery light, 
And he his notes as silvery quite, — 
While the boatman listens, and ships his oar, 
To catch the music that comes from the shore ? 
Hark ! the notes on my ear that play 
Are set to words : as they float, they say, 
" Passing away, passing away ! " 

OROTUND. 

1. Approach and behold while I lift from his sepulchre 
its covering. Ye admirers of his greatness, ye emulous of 
his talents and his fame, approach, and behold him now. 
How pale! how silent! No martial bands admire the adroit- 
ness of his movements, no fascinating throng weep and melt 
and tremble at his eloquence. Amazing change ! A shroud, 
a coffin, a narrow subterraneous cabin, — this is all that now 
remains of Hamilton. And is this all that remains of him ? 
During a life so transitory, what lasting monument, then, 
can our fondest hopes erect ! 

2. A seraph by the throne 

In the full glory stood. With eager hand 
He smote the golden harp-strings, till a flood 
Of harmony on the celestial air 
Welled forth unceasing : then with a great voice 
He sang the " Holy, holy, evermore, 
Lord God Almighty ! " and the eternal courts 
Thrilled with the rapture ; and the hierarchies, 
Angel and rapt archangel, throbbed and burned 
With vehement adoration. Higher yet 



56 ELOCUTION. 

Rose the majestic anthem without pause, — 
Higher, with rich magnificence of sound, 
To its full strength ; and still the infinite heavens 
Rang with the " Holy, holy, evermore ! " 

3. God, thou art mighty. At thy footstool bound, 
Lie, gazing to thee, Chance and Life and Death. 
Nor in the angel-circle flaming round, 
Nor in the million worlds that blaze beneath, 
Is one that can withstand thy wrath's hot breath. 
Woe in thy frown ; in thy smile victory. 
Hear my last prayer. I ask no mortal wreath : 
Let but these eyes my rescued country see ; 
Then take my spirit, All-Omnipotent, to thee. 

For examples of pure tone, see Fobes' " Five-Minute " Series. 
** Readings, 1 ' pp. 5, 85, 92, 123, 129, 134, 147, 151, 154; "Recita- 
tions," pp. 65, 70, 83, 92, 108, 116, 156. 

For orotund, ''Readings," pp. 25, 73, 89, 104, 190; "Recita- 
tions," pp. 13, 77, 78, 103, 131, 154, and many selections in " De- 
clamations," First and Second Parts. 

MOVEMENT. 

By different emotions you are prompted to speak words in 
quick or slow utterance, as in joy or anger you would be 
prompted to utter words quickly; while in majesty, sublim- 
ity, awe, you would speak slowly. You should practise 
movement, that you may be able to read rapidly and with 
perfect articulation, and also to read slowly with proper 
phrasing. In quick movement, read as fast as you can with 
proper articulation, phrasing, and emphasis. In moderate 
movement, read as in ordinary earnest conversation. In slow 
and very slow movement, phrase well, as in these the em- 
phatic words have the longest time given to them, the 
secondarily emphatic ones less time, and the connecting 
words the least time ; and it is a great art to proportion them 
rightly. If you do not do the latter, you will drawl. 

QUICK MOVEMENT. 

1. Boot, saddle, to horse, and away! 
Rescue my castle before the hot day 
Brightens to blue from its silvery gray: 
Boot, saddle, to horse, and away! 



ELOCUTION. 57 

2, But hark ! above the beating of the storm 
Peals on the startled ear the fire-alarm. 

Yon gloomy heaven's aflame with sudden light ; 
And heart-beats quicken with a strange affright. 
From tranquil slumber springs, at duty's call, 
The ready friend no danger can appall : 
Fierce for the conflict, sturdy, true, and brave, 
He hurries forth to battle and to save. 

3. After him came, spurring hard, 

A gentleman almost forespent with speed, 
That stopped by me to breathe his bloodied horse. 
He asked the way to Chester ; and of him 
I did demand what news from Shrewsbury. 
He told me that rebellion had bad luck, 
And that young Harry Percy's spur was cold : 
With that he gave his able horse the head, 
And, bending forward, struck his armed heels 
Against the panting sides of his poor jade 
Up to the rowel-head ; and, starting so, 
He seemed, in running, to devour the way, 
Staying no longer question. 

MODERATE MOVEMENT. 

1. Yes, Tom's the best fellow that ever you knew. 

Just listen to this : — 
When the old mill took fire, and the flooring fell 

through, 
And I with it, helpless there, full in my view 
What do you think my eyes saw through the fire, 
That crept along, crept along, nigher and nigher. 
But Robin, my baby-boy, laughing to see 
The shining? He must have come there after me, 
Troddled. alone from the cottage. 

2. Oratory, as it consists in the expression of the coun- 
tenance, graces of attitude and motion, and intonation of 
voice, although it is altogether superficial and ornamental, 
will always command admiration ; yet it deserves little ven- 
eration. Flashes of wit, coruscations of imagination, and 
gay pictures, — what are they? Strict truth, rapid reason, 
and pure integrity, are the only essential ingredients in 
oratory. I flatter myself that Demosthenes, by his "action, 
action, action," meant to express the same opinion. 



58 ELOCUTION. 

3. Waken, voice of the land's devotion! 
Spirit of freedom, awaken all ! 
Ring, ye shores, to the song of ocean ! 

Rivers, answer ! and, mountains, call ! 
The golden day has come : 
Let every tongue be dumb 
That sounded its malice, or murmured its fears. 
She hath won her story ; 
She wears her glory : 
We crown her the land of a hundred years ! 

SLOW MOVEMENT. 

1. Within this sober realm of leafless trees 

The russet year inhaled the dreamy air, 
Like some tanned reaper in his hour of ease 
When all the fields are lying brown and bare. 

2. As some tall cliff that lifts its awful form, 

Swells from the vale, and midway leaves the storm, 
Though round its breast the rolling clouds are spread, 
Eternal sunshine settles on its head. 

3. Father, guide me ! Day declines ; 
Hollow winds are in the pines ; 
Darkly waves each giant bough 
O'er the sky's last crimson glow; 
Hushed is now the convent's bell, 
Which erewhile, with breezy swell, 
From the purple mountains bore 
Greeting to the sunset shore ; 
Now the sailor's vesper-hymn 

Dies away. 
Father, in the forest dim 

Be my stay! 

VERY SLOW MOVEMENT. 

1. Toll, toll, toll, 

Thou bell by billows swung ! 
And night and day thy warning words 

Repeat with mournful tongue ! 
Toll for the queenly boat 

Wrecked on yon rocky shore : 
Seaweed is in her palace-halls ; 

She rides the surge no more. 



ELOCUTION. 59 

2. Now o'er the drowsy earth still night prevails ; 
Calm sleep the mountain-tops and shady vales, 
The rugged cliffs and hollow glens. 

The wild beasts slumber in their dens, 

The cattle on the hill. Deep in the sea 

The countless finny race and monster brood 

Tranquil repose. Even the busy bee 

Forgets her daily toil. The silent wood 

No more with noisy form of insect rings ; 

And all the feathered tribes, by gentle sleep subdued, 

Roost in the glade, and hang their drooping wings. 

3. My Father, God, lead on ! 
Calmly I follow where thy guiding hand 
Directs my steps. I would not trembling stand, 

Though all before the way 
Is dark as night : I stay 
My soul on thee, and say, 
Father, I trust thy love : lead on ! 

FORCE. 

Every emotion which you have you feel more or less in- 
tensely, and that intensity is expressed through the force 
of the voice. The degree of force with which you speak 
will be according to the degree of intensity of emotion ; and 
even in the gentlest tone you can express as forcibly as in 
the loudest. According to your strength of body and mind, 
and intensity of feeling, you have been accustomed to ex- 
press in a strong or feeble voice. Force needs to be prac- 
tised to enable you to fill a large hall with your gentlest 
tone, and to make very loud tones without straining of 
throat. In gentle force, sustain the breath well, as in fulness 
and power, observing directions there given; and make your 
tone soft and pure. In moderate force, be as energetic as in 
earnest conversation. In loud and very loud force, observe 
directions under " Fulness and Power." 

GENTLE FORCE. 

1. A noise as of a hidden brook 
In the leafy month of June, 
That to the sleeping woods all night 
Singeth a cmiet tune. 



60 ELOCUTION. 

2. O blithe new-comer! I have heard, 

I hear thee, and rejoice: 
O cuckoo! shall I call thee bird, 
Or but a wandering voice? 

Thrice welcome, darling of the spring! 

Even yet thou art to me 
No bird, but an invisible thing, 

A voice, a mystery. 

3. Around this lovely valley rise 
The purple hills of Paradise ; 
Oh ! softly on yon banks of haze 
Her rosy face the Summer lays; 
Becalmed along the azure sky 
The argosies of Cloud-land lie, 
Whose shores, with many a shining rift, 
Far off their pearl- white peaks uplift. 

MODERATE FORCE. 

1. Robert of Lincoln is gayly dressed, 

Wearing a bright black wedding-coat: 
White are his shoulders, and white his crest. 
Hear him call, in his merry note, 
Bob-o-link, bob-o-link, 
Spink, spank, spink! 
Look, what a nice new coat is mine! 
Sure there was never a bird so fine. 
Chee, chee, chee! 

2. O young men and women ! there is no picture of ideal 
excellence of manhood and womanhood that I ever draw 
that seems too high, too beautiful, for your young hearts. 
What aspirations there are for the good, the true, the fair, 
and the holy! The instinctive affections — how beautiful 
they are, with all their purple prophecy of new homes and 
generations of immortals that are yet to be! The high 
instincts of reason, of conscience, of love, of religion, — 
how beautiful and grand they are in the young heart.' 

3. She was a darling little thing : 
I worshipped her outright. 
When in my arms she smiling lay ; 
When on my knees she climbed in play; 



ELOCUTION. 61 

When round my neck her arms would cling, 
As crooning songs I used to sing ; 
When on my back she gayly rode, 
Then strong beneath its precious load ; 
'When at my side, in summer days, 
She gambolled in her childish plays ; 
When, throughout all the after-years, 
I watched with trembling hopes and fears 
The infant to a woman grow, — 
I worshipped then, as I do now, 
My life's delight. 

LOUD FORCE. 

1. Hark to the bugle's roundelay! 
Boot and saddle ! Up and away! 
Mount and ride as ye ne'er rode before; 
Spur till your horses' flanks run gore; 
Ride for the sake of human lives ; 

Ride as ye would were your sisters and wives 
Cowering under their scalping-knives. 
Boot and saddle ! Away, away ! 

2. News of battle! news of battle! 

Hark ! 'tis ringing down the street, 
And the archways and the pavement 

Bear the clang of hurrying feet. 
News of battle! — who hath brought it? 

News of triumph ! — who should bring 
Tidings from our noble army, 

Greetings from our gallant king ! 

3. And, lo! from the assembled crowd 
There rose a shout, prolonged and loud, 
That to the ocean seemed to say, 

" Take her, O bridegroom old and gray! 

Take her to thy protecting arms, 

With all her youth and all her charms.' 9 

VERY LOUD FORCE. 

1. " Now, men! now is your time! " 
" Make ready! take aim! fire! " 



62 ELOCUTION. 

2. Up the hillside, down the glen, 
Rouse the sleeping citizen, 
Summon out the might of men ! 
Clang the bells in all your spires ! 
On the gray hills of your sires 
Fling to heaven your signal-fires ! 
Oh, for God and Duty stand, 
Heart to heart, and hand to hand, 
Round the old graves of your land I 

3. Now for the fight ! now for the cannon-peal ! 

Forward, through blood and toil and cloud and fire! 
Glorious the shout, the shock, the crash of steel, 
The volley's roll, the rocket's blasting spire! 
They shake ; like broken waves their squares retire. 
On them, hussars ! Now give them rein and heel ! 
Think of the orphaned child, the murdered sire I 
Earth cries for blood. In thunder on them wheel ! 
This hour to Europe's fate shall set the triumph seal. 

STRESS. 

In expressing your emotions, the voice is ejected in various 
ways; perhaps in a jerky or trembling or flowing manner, 
as may be, depending on the kind of emotion you feel. 
This is called " Stress ; " and you have learned how, mechani- 
cally, to make it. Radical Stress is used when you tiy to 
impress upon others your exact meaning. Practise it with 
that thought in your mind. Median Stress is used in 
appeal to the best affections, and expresses agreeable emo- 
tions. The swell comes on emphatic words. Terminal 
Stress is used in expressions of anger, petulance, impa- 
tience, and the like. Thorough Stress is used in calling to 
persons at a long distance, but has little place in expression. 
It is frequently substituted by bad readers or speakers for 
Median or Terminal Stress. Compound Stress is used in 
strong passion ; and being a compound of Radical and Ter- 
minal Stress, and used with circumflex inflections, it com- 
bines the meaning of them all, as sarcasm, irony, &c, 
mixed with anger, impatience, doubt, &c. Tremolo Stress 
is used in excessive emotion; as joy, anger, sorrow, in 
excess, would cause the voice to tremble. You should prac- 
tise this in order to avoid it, as, when Tremolo does not 



ELOCUTION. 63 

proceed from real excess of feeling, it has a very ludicrous 
effect. Practise the following exercises by thinking and 
feeling the idea and emotion. 

RADICAL STRESS. 

1. Hark, hark! the lark sings mid the silvery blue: 
Behold her flight, proud man, and lowly bow. 

2. There is the act of utterance, a condition that exists 
between you and myself. I speak, and you hear; but how? 
The words issue from my lips, and reach your ears, but 
what are those words? Volumes of force communicated to 
the atmosphere, whose elastic waves carry them to fine 
recipients in your own organism But still 1 ask, How? 
How is it that these volumes of sound should convey articu- 
late meaning, and carry ideas from my mind into your own? 

3. I call upon you, fathers, by the shades of your ances- 
tors, by the dear ashes which repose in this precious soil, by 
all you are and aii you hope to be, — resist every object of 
disunion ; resist every encroachment upon your liberties ; re- 
sist every attempt to fetter your consciences, or smother 
your public schools, or extinguish your system of public 
instruction. 

MEDIAN STRESS. 

1. The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof; 
The world, and they that dwell therein: 

For he hath founded it upon the seas, 
And established it upon the floods. 

2. Oh divine, oh delightful legacy of a spotless reputa- 
tion ! Rich is the inheritance it leaves ; pious the example it 
testifies; pure, precious, and imperishable the hope which 
it inspires. Can there be conceived a more atrocious injury 
than to filch from its possessor this inestimable benefit ; to 
rob society of its charm, and solitude of its solace ; not only 
to outlaw life, but to attaint death, converting the very 
gTave, the refuge of the sufferer, into the gate of infamy 
and of shame? 

3, How sleep the brave who sink to rest 
With all their country's wishes blest! 



64 ELOCUTION. 

When Spring, with dewy fingers cold, 
Returns to deck their hallowed mould, 
It there shall dress a sweeter sod 
Than blooming Fancy ever trod. 
By fairy hands their knell is rung; 
By forms unseen their dirge is sungi 
There Honor walks, a pilgrim gray, 
To deck the turf that wraps their clay , 
And Freedom shall a while repair 
To dwell a weeping hermit there. 



TERMINAL STRESS. 

1. I'll have my bond; I will not hear thee speak: 
I'll have my bond; and therefore speak no more. 
I'll not be made a soft and dull-eyed fool, 
To shake the head, relent, and sigh, and yield 
To Christian intercessors. 

%. N't t sleep nor sanctuary, 

B< mg naked, sick, nor fane nor capitol, 
Tb^ prayers of priests, nor times of sacrifice, 
Embarkments all of fury, shall lift up 
Their rotten privilege and custom 'gainst 
My hate to Marcius: where I find him, were it 
At home upon my brother's guard, — even there, 
Against the hospitable cannon, would I 
Wash my fierce hand in his heart 

3. A plague upon them! Wherefore should I curse theii 
Would curses kill, as doth the mandrake's groan. 
I would invent as bitter-searching terms. 
As curst, as harsh, and horrible to hear, 
Delivered strongly through my fixed teeth, 
With full as many signs of deadly hate, 
As lean-faced Envy in her loathsome cave : 
My tongue should stumble in mine earnest words ; 
Mine eyes should sparkle like the beaten flint; 
My hair be fixed on end, as one distract; 
Ay, every joint should seem to curse and ban; 
And even now my burdened heart would break. 
Should I not curse them. 



ELOCUTION. 65 



THOROUGH STRESS. 

X. '• Ho, Starbuck and Pickney and Tenter den! 
Run for your shallops, gather your men, 
Scatter your boats on the lower bay ! ' ' 

2, " Run! run for your lives, high up on the land! 
Away, men and children! up quick, and be gone! 
The water's broke loose! it is chasing me on! " 

3 They strike ! Hurrah ! the fort has surrendered ! 
Shout, shout, my warrior-boy, 
And wave your cap, and clap your hands for joy! 
Cheer answer cheer, and bear the cheer about. 
Hurrah, hurrah, for the fiery fort is ours! 
" Victory, victory, victory! " 

COMPOUND STRESS. 

1. Thou slave, thou wretch, thou coward. 
Thou little valiant great in villany ! 
Thou wear a lion's hide ! doff it for shame, 
And hang a calf's skin on those recreant limbs. 

2. Hath not a Jew eyes? hath not a Jew hands, organs, 
dimensions, senses, affections, passions? fed with the same 
food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same dis- 
eases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the 
same winter and summer, as a Christian is? If you prick 
us, do we not bleed? if you tickle us, do we not laugh? it 
you poison us, do we not die? and, if you wrong us, shall we 
not revenge? 

3. Think you a little din can daunt mine ears? 
Have I not in my time heard lions roar? 

Uave I not heard the sea, puffed up with winds, 
Rage like an angry boar, chafed with sweat? 
Have I not heard great ordnance in the field, 
And heaven's artillery thunder in the skies? 
Have I not in a pitched battle heard 
Loud 'larums, neighing steeds, and trumpet's clang i 
And do you tell me of a woman's tongue, 
That gives not half so great a blow to the ear 
As will a chestnut in a farmer's five? 



66 ELOCUTION. 



TREMOLO STRESS. 

1. There's nothing in this world can make me joy: 
Life is as tedious as a twice-told tale, 
Vexing the dull ear of a drowsy man. 

2 O men with sisters dear ! 

O men with mothers and wives ! 
It is not linen you're wearing out, 

But human creatures' lives. 
Stitch, stitch, stitch, 

In poverty, hunger, and dirt ; 
Sewing at once, with a double thread, 

A shroud as well as a shirt. 

3. Grief fills the room up of my absent child, 
Lies in his bed, walks up and down with me, 
Puts on his pretty looks, repeats his words, 
Remembers me of all his gracious parts, 
Stuffs out his vacant garments with his form: 
Then have I reason to be fond of grief. 

. TRANSITION. 

The changes from one kind of force to another, or one 
pitch to another, or one movement to another, or one quality 
to another, are many in expressive reading; and these changes 
are called ''Transition." To practise it is very useful in 
breaking up monotony of voice, and adding expressiveness 
to it. In practice of these short extracts, you are showing 
the benefit of practice in quality, pitch, movement, and force. 
Put yourself into the thought and feeling, and vary the voice 
as that, guided by common sense, may suggest to you. 

See " Five-Minute Readings," pp. 26, 93, 96, 111, 132, 190, etc. ; 
" Recitations," pp. 11, 20, 22, 30, 39, 111, 188, etc., for many exam- 
ples of transition. 

1. " Make way for liberty! " he cried, — 
Made way for liberty, and died ! 

2. " Peace be unto thee, father," Tauler said: 

4 ' God give thee a good day ! ' ' The old man raised 
Slowly his calm blue eyes: " I thank thee, son; 
But all my days are good, and none are ill." 



ELOCUTION. 67 

3. " They come, they come! the pale-face come! " 
The chieftain shouted where he stood, 

Sharp watching at the margin wood, 
And gave the war-whoop's treble yell, 
That like a knell on fair hearts fell 
Far watching from their rocky home. 

4. " Not yet, not yet: steady, steady! " 
On came the foe in even line, 

Nearer and nearer, to thrice paces nine. 
We looked into their eyes. " Ready! " 
A sheet of flame, a roll of death! 
They fell by scores : we held our breath : 
Then nearer still they came. 
Another sheet of flame, 
And brave men fled who never fled before. 

5. Did ye not hear it? — No: 'twas but the wind, 
Or the car rattling o'er the stony street. 

On with the dance! let joy be unconfined! 
No sleep till morn, when youth and pleasure meet 
To chase the glowing hours with flying feet. 
But hark! — that heavy sound breaks in once more, 
As if the clouds its echo would repeat ; 
And nearer, clearer, deadlier than before ! 
Arm, arm! it is — it is — the cannon's opening roar! 

6. " Together! " shouts Niagara his thunder-toned decree; 

1 l Together ! ' ' echo back the waves upon the Mexic Sea ; 
"Together!" sing the sylvan hills where old Atlantic 

roars ; 
' ' Together ! ' ' boom the breakers on the wild Pacific 

shores ; 
" Together! " cry the people. And " together " it shall 

be, 
An everlasting charter-bond forever for the free ! 
Of liberty the signet-seal, the one eternal sign, 
Be those united emblems, — the Palmetto and the Pine 

7. " Ho, sailor of the sea! 

How's my boy, — my boy? " 

" What's your boy's name, good wife? 

And in what good ship sailed he? " 



68 ELOCUTION. 

"My boy John, — 
He that went to sea : 
What care I for the ship, sailor? 
My boy's my boy to me." 

8. Out burst all with one accord: 

< < This is Paradise for Hell ! 

Let France, let France's king, 

Thank the man that did the thing! " 
What a shout! and all one word, — 

"HerveRiel!" 
As he stepped in front once more, 

Not a symptom of surprise 

In the frank blue Breton eyes : 
Just the same man as before. 

9. He called his child, — no voice replied; 

He searched, with terror wild: 
Blood, blood, he found on every side, 
But nowhere found his child. 

" Hell-hound! my child's by thee devoured," 

The frantic father cried ; 
And to the hilt his vengeful sword 

He plunged in Gelert's side. 

His suppliant, as to earth he fell, 

No pity could impart ; 
But still his Gelert's dying yell 

Passed heavy o'er his heart. 

10, While the trumpets bray, and the cymbals ring, 

" Praise, praise to Belshazzar, Belshazzar the king! " 
Now what cometh? Look, lookl Without menace or 

call, 
Who writes with the lightning's bright hand on the 

wall? 
What pierceth the king like the point of a dart? 
What drives the bold blood from his cheek to his heart? 
" Chaldseans, magicians! the letters expound." 
They are read ; and Belshazzar is dead on the ground 1 

11. Sir P. — 'Slife, madam! I say, had you any of these 
little elegant expenses when you married me? 



ELOCUTION. 69 

Lady T. — Lud, Sir Peter! would you have me be out 
of the fashion? 

Sir P. — The fashion, indeed! What had you to do 
with the fashion before you married me? 

Lady T. — For my part, I should think you would like 
to have your wife thought a woman of taste. 
- • Sir P. — Ay, there again! Taste! Zounds, madam! 
you had no taste when you married me. 

Lady T. — That's very true, indeed, Sir Peter; and, 
after having married you, I should never pretend to taste 
again, I allow. 

12. " And what the meed? " at length Tell asked. 
" Bold fool! when slaves like thee are tasked, 

It is my will ; 
But that thine eye may keener be, 
And nerved to such nice archery, 
If thou succeed' st, thou goest free. 

What ! pause ye still ? 
Give him a bow and arrow there : 
One shaft, — but one." Madness, despair, 

And tortured love, 
One moment swept the Switzer's face ; 
Then passed away each stormy trace, 
And high resolve reigned like a grace 

Caught from above. 

13 Bass. — Why dost thou whet thy knife so earnestly? 

Shy. — To cut the forfeit from that bankrupt there. 

Gra. — Can no prayers pierce thee? 

Shy. — No, none that thou hast wit enough to make 

Gra. — Oh, be thou damned, inexorable dog, 
And for thy life let justice be accused! 
Thou almost mak'st me waver in my faith, 
To hold opinion with Pythagoras, 
That souls of animals infuse themselves 
Into the trunks of men : thy currish spirit 
Governed a wolf, who, hanged for human slaughter > 
Even from the gallows did his fell soul fleet, 
And, whilst thou lay'st in thy unhallowed dam, 
Infused itself in thee ; for thy desires 
Are wolfish, bloody, starved, and ravenous. 



70 ELOCUTION. 

Shy. — Till thou canst rail the seal from off my bond. 
Thou but offend'st thy lungs to speak so loud. 
Repair thy wit, good youth, or it will fall 
To cureless ruin. — I stand here for law. 

14. Ham. — Now, mother, what's the matter? 

Queen. — Hamlet, thou hast thy father much offended 

Ham. — Mother, you have my father much offended. 

Queen. — Come, come, you answer with an idle tongue. 

Ham. — Go, go, you question with a wicked tongue. 

Queen. — Why, how now, Hamlet? 

Ham. — What's the matter now? 

Queen. — Have you forgot me? 

Ham. — No, by the rood, not so: 
You are the queen, your husband's brother's wife; 
And — would it were not so ! — you are my mother. 

Queen. — Nay, then, I'll set those to you that can 
speak. 

Ham. — Come, come, and sit you down: you shall not 
budge ; 
You go not, till I set you up a glass 
Where you may see the inmost part of you. 

MODULATION. 

" 'Tis not enough the voice be loud and clear: 
'Tis modulation that must charm the ear." 

A good reader or speaker will vary his or her voice in the 
elements of emotional expression (that is, pitch, quality, 
movement, stress, force), on words, phrases, and sentences, 
in such a manner that the listeners get a suggestion of the 
meaning of a word by the sound of it. For instance, the 
words bright, glad, joyful, dull, sad, iceak, may be pronounced 
in such a manner as to suggest by the quality of voice used 
their meaning ; and, in the same manner, phrases and whole 
sentences may have variation in voice so as to suggest then 
meaning. This is modulation. 

To modulate well, first, you must use your imagination, to 
form a perfect picture in your own mind of what you wish to 
describe, just as you would if you were an artist, and were 
intending to paint an ideal picture; and, in reality, you are 
an artist, for you paint with words and tones. Secondly, 
you should understand the exact meaning of each word, and, 



ELOCUTION. 71 

when you speak it, make your manner of speaking it suggest 
its meaning. Suppose you were to read Tennyson's " Song 
of the Brook." We will analyze as near as words may the 
manner of reading each verse. Read the whole song, and 
form the picture in imagination of the flow of the water, the 
scenery along its course, the roughness or smoothness of the 
water as described, the slowness or rapidity of its flow at 
different points, how large or small the brook is, making the 
picture as perfect as if you would paint upon canvas the 
whole scene. 

THE BROOK. 

1. I come from haunts of coot and hern; 

2. I make a sudden sally, 

3. And sparkle out among the fern 

4. To bicker down a valley. 

5. By thirty hills I hurry down, 

6. Or slip between the ridges ; 

7. By twenty thorps, a little town, 

8. And half a hundred bridges. 

9. Till last by Philip's farm I flow 

10. To join the brimming river; 

11. For men may come, and men may go, 

12. But I go on forever. 

13. I chatter over stony ways 

14. In little sharps and trebles ; 

15. I bubble into eddying bays; 
IS. I babble on the pebbles. 

17. With many a curve my banks I fret, 

18. By many a field and fallow, 

19. And many a fairy foreland set 

20. With willow- weed and mallow. 

21. I chatter, chatter, as I flow 

22. To join the brimming river; 

23. For men may, come, and men may go, 

24. But I go on forever. 

25. I wind about, and in and out, 

26. With here a blossom sailing, 

27. And here and there a lusty trout, 

28. And here and there a graylinar. 



72 ELOCUTION. 

20. And here and there a foamy flake 

30. Upon me as I travel ; 

31. With many a silvery waterbreak 

32. Above the golden gravel ; 

33. And draw them all along, and flow, 

34. To join the brimming river; 

35. For men may come, and men may go 9 

36. But I go on forever. 

37. I steal by lawns and grassy plots ; 

38. I slide by hazel covers ; 

39. I move the sweet forget-me-nots 

40. That grow for happy lovers. 

41. I slip, I slide, I gloom, I glance, 

42. Among my skimming swallows ; 

43. I make the netted sunbeams dance 

44. Against my sandy shallows. 

45. I murmur under moon and stars 

46. In brambly wildernesses; 

47. I linger by my shingly bars ; 

48. I loiter round my cresses : 

49. And out again I curve and flow 

50. To join the brimming river; 

51. For men may come, and men may go, 

52. But I go on forever. 

As a whole, this piece requires for quality of voice the 
pure tone ; force, gentle ; movement, moderate : pitch, middle ; 
.stress, median. The variations in modulation must be from 
these, and will be mostly variations in quality, movement 
and pitch. 

Lines 2 to 6. Movement, quick; pitch, high; with quaMty 
changing on words sudden, sparkle, bicker, hurry, slip, in such 
a way as to suggest the meaning of the word. 

Lines 7 to 12. Movement, moderate; pitch, middle. 

Lines 13 to 16. Movement, quick; pitch, high; the words 
chatter, stony, sharps, trebles, bubble, babble, spoken with sug- 
gestion of their meaning. 

Lines 17 to 20. Movement, moderate; pitch, middle. 



ELOCUTION. 73 

Lines 21 to 24. Movement, quick; pitch, high; make 
quality suggest on chatter, brimming. 

Lines 25 to 28. Movement, slow; pitch, middle; change 
to suggestive quality on wind, blossom, lusty. 

Lines 29 to 36. Movement, moderate; pitch, middle; sug 
gestive quality on foamy, silvery, golden, brimming. 

Lines 37 to 40. Movement, slow; pitch, low; suggestive 
quality on steal, slide, more, happy. 

Lines 41, 42. Movement, pitch, quality, all varied ok 
words slip, slide, gloom, glance. 

Lines 43, 44. Movement, quick; pitch, high; suggestive 
quality on dance, shallows. 

Lines 45 to 48. Movement, slow; pitch, low; quality, 
very slightly aspirate; suggestive quality on murmur, linger, 
loiter. 

Lines 49 to 52. Movement, moderate; pitch, middle; sug- 
gestive quality on brimming. 

This analysis is very imperfect, as it is impossible in words 
to explain it. What modulation requires is. as a popular 
author says, " genius and sense " on your part, and you will 
be enabled to do as here is imperfectly suggested. You will 
do well to select some pieces, and analyze them, as here sug- 
gested. In Longfellow's " Launching of the Ship,'' in " Five- 
Minute Recitations," page 116, picture the whole scene inima- 
gination, the size and kind of ship, number of the crowd, etc. 

The following pieces are marked so that you may get a 
general idea of what is required for emotional expression in 
each. Xo marking can give you particulars of what is ne- 
cessary, as the modulation of voice or variety in emotional 
expression — the light and shadow in the coloring of your 
word-picture — must depend upon your artistic ' ' sense and 
genius." Imagine your picture, understand the meaning of 
every word and suggest its meaning in tone, concentrate 
yourself in the thought and feeling of the piece, and let your 
voice be governed by that, and you will not go far wrong if 
you have faithfully practised what has been recommended in 
the previous pages of this book. 

1. Pure quality, gentle force, slow movement, middle 
pitch, median stress. 

Those evening bells, those evening bells! 
How many a tale their music tells 
Of youth and home, and that sweet time 
When last I heard their soothing chime' 



74 ELOCUTION. 

Those joyous hours are passed away; 
And many a heart that then was gay 
Within the tomb now darkly dwells, 
And hears no more those evening bells. 

And so 'twill be when I am gone : 
That tuneful peal will still ring on ; 
While other bards shall walk these dells, 
And sing your praise, sweet evening bells. 

2. Orotund quality, with fulness and power, varying 
middle and low pitch, moderate and quick movement, 
median and radical stress mixed. 

With storm-daring pinion and sun-gazing eye 
The gray forest eagle is king of the sky. 
From the crag-grasping fir-top where morn hangs its wreath, 
He views the mad waters white writhing beneath. 
A fitful red glaring, a rumbling jar, 
Proclaim the -storm- demon still raging afar : 
The black cloud strides upward, the lightning more red, 
And the roll of the thunder more deep and more dread ; 
A thick pall of darkness is cast o'er the air; 
And on bounds the blast with a howl from its lair. 

The lightning darts zig-zag and forked through the gloom; 
And the bolt launches o'er with crash, rattle, and boom: 
The gray forest eagle — where, where has he sped? 
Does he shrink to his eyrie, or shiver with dread? 
Does the glare blind his eye? Has the terrible blast 
On the wing of the sky-king a fear-fetter cast? 
No, no! the brave eagle, he thinks not of fright: 
The wrath of the tempest but rouses delight. 

To the flash of the lightning his eye casts a gleam ; 
To the shriek of the wild blast he echoes his scream ; 
And with front like a warrior that speeds to the fray, 
And a clapping of pinions, he's up and away. 
Away — oh ! away — soars the fearless and free ; 
What recks he the skies' strife? its monarch is he! 
The lightning darts round him, undaunted his sight* 
The blast sweeps against him, unwavered his flight; 
High upward, still upward, he wheels, till his form 
Is lost in the black scowling gloom of the storm. 

<]. Pure to orotund quality, gentle to moderate force, 
moderate movement, middle pitch, radicrJ and median stress 



ELOCUTION. 75 

mixed. This contains many words that can be pronounced 
with a quality or variation suggesting their meaning. 

Rhetoric as taught in our seminaries and by elocutionists 
is one thing: genuine, heart-thrilling, soul-stirring eloquence 
is a very different thhig. The one is like the rose in wax, 
without odor; the other like the rose on its native bush, per- 
fuming the atmosphere with the rich odors distilled from the 
dew of heaven. 

The one is the finely-finished statue of a Cicero or Demos- 
thenes, more perfect in its lineaments than the original, 
pleasing the eye, and enrapturing the imagination: the other 
is the living man, animated by intellectual power, rousing 
the deepest feelings of every heart, and electrifying every 
soul as with vivid lightning. The one is a picture of the 
passions all on fire: the other is the real conflagration, pour- 
ing out a volume of words that burn like liquid flames burst- 
ing from the crater of a volcano. 

The one attracts the admiring gaze and tickles the fancy 
of an audience: the other sounds an alarm that vibrates 
through the tingling ears to the soul, and drives back the 
rushing blood upon the aching heart. The one falls Upon 
the multitude like April showers glittering in the sunbeams, 
animating, and bringing nature into mellow life : the other 
rouses the same mass to deeds of noble daring, and imparts 
to it the terrific force of an avalanche. 

The one moves the cerebral foliage in waves of recumbent 
beauty like a gentle wind passing over a prairie of tall grass 
and flowers: the other strikes a blow that resounds through 
the wilderness of mind like rolling thunder through a forest 
of oaks. The one fails when strong commotions and angry 
elements agitate the public peace: the other can ride upon 
the whirlwind, direct the tornado, and rule the storm. 

4. Aspirated orotund quality, moderate force, very skrvf 
movement, very low pitch, median stress. 

Tread softly, bow the head, in reverent silence bow: 
No passing bell doth toll, yet an immortal soul 
Is passing now. 

Stranger, however great, with lowly reverence bow: 
There's one in that poor shed, one by that paltry bed, 
Greater than thou. 



76 ELOCUTION. 

Beneath that beggar's roof, lo! Death doth keep his state 
Enter, no crowds attend; enter, no guards defend 
This palace-gate. 

That pavement damp and cold no smiling courtiers tread: 
One silent woman stands, lifting with meagre hands 
A dying head. 

No mingling voices sound, — an infant wail alone: 
A sob suppressed, again that short deep gasp, and ther 
The parting groan. 

Oh change ! oh wondrous change ! burst are the prison 

bars: 
This moment there, so low, so agonized; and now 
Beyond the stars ! 

Oh change, stupendous change! there lies the soulless clod: 
The sun eternal breaks, the new immortal wakes, — 
Wakes with his God ! 

5. Pure quality, moderate force, quick movement, high 
pitch, radical stress, suggestive quality on many words. 

The Wind one morning sprang up from sleep, 

Saying, " Now for a frolic, now for a leap, 

Now for a mad-cap galloping chase : 

I'll make a commotion in every place! " 

So it swept with a bustle right through a great town, 

Creaking the signs, and scattering down 

Shutters, and whisking with merciless squalls 

Old women's bonnets and gingerbread-stalls: 

There never was heard a much lustier shout 

As the apples and oranges tumbled about ; 

And the urchins, that stand with their thievish eyes 

Forever on watch, ran off each with a prize. 

Then away to the field it went blustering and humming, 

And the cattle all wondered whatever was coming: 

It plucked by their tails the grave matronly cows, 

And tossed the colts' manes all about their brows; 

Till, oif ended at such a familiar salute, 

They all turned their backs, and stood silently mute< 

So on it went capering, and playing its pranks ; 

Whistling with reeds on the broad river's banks ; 



ELOCUTION. 77 

Puffing the birds as they sat on the spray, 

Or the traveller grave on the king's highway. 

Through the forest it roared, and cried gayly, " Now, 

Von sturdy old oaks, I'll make you bow! " 

And it made them bow without more ado, 

And cracked their great branches through and through. 

Then it rushed like a monster on cottage and farm, 

Striking their dwellers with sudden alarm, 

And they ran out like bees in a midsummer swarm. 

There were dames with their kerchiefs tied over their caps 

To see if their poultry were free from mishaps. 

The turkeys they gobbled ; the geese screamed aloud ; 

And the hens crept to roost in a terrified crowd: 

There was rearing of ladders, and logs laying on, 

Where the thatch from the roof threatened soon to be gone. 

But the wind had passed on, and had met in a lane 

With a school-boy who panted and struggled in vain; 

For it tossed him and twirled him, then passed, and he stood 

With his hat in a pool, and his shoe in the mud. 

See "Five-Minute Readings," pp. 23, 67, 85, 104, 150, 166, etc.; 
" Recitations," pp. 9, 37, 49, 111,116, 124, 131, 146,188, etc., for 
many examples of modulation. 

STYLE. 

What you have to say, where you have to say it, when you 
have to say it, why you have to say it, and to whom you have 
to say it, — on these depend how you shall say it, or your style. 
Conversational style is as you would talk in earnest conver- 
sation with a friend; Narrative, as you would tell an anec- 
dote or story to a company of friends; Descriptive, as you 
would describe what you had actually seen; Didactic, as 
you would state earnestly, decisively, but pleasantly, your 
knowledge or opinions to others; Public Address, which 
generally includes the Didactic, Narrative, and Descriptive, 
is spoken with design to move, to persuade, and instruct, 
particularly the latter ; Declamatory is Public Address 
magnified in expression, exhibiting more emotion, both in 
language, and in quality, and fulness of voice; the Emo- 
tional or Dramatic, in which the emotions and passions are 
strongly expressed. In practising these different styles, the 
quality, pitch, force, and time must be regulated by your 
thought and feeling, guided, as in transition, by common 



78 ELOCUTION. 

sense, which will enable you to tell natural from unnatural 
expression. Practise these few exercises under each head; 
but you will do better to practise pieces such as are referred 
to under each head in the " Reading Club." 

CONVERSATIONAL. 

1. " And how's my boy, Betty? " asked Mrs. Boffin, sit- 
ting down beside her. 

tl He's bad; he's bad! " said Betty. " I begin to be afeerd 
he'll not be yours any more than mine. All others belong- 
ing to him have gone to the Power and the Glory ; and I have 
a mind that they're drawing him to them, leading him 
away." 

" No, no, no! " said Mrs. Boffin. 

" I don't know why else he clinches his little hand, as if 
it had hold of a finger that I can't see; look at it! " said 
Betty, opening the wrappers in which the flushed child lay, 
and showing his small right hand lying closed upon his 
breast. " It's always so. It don't mind me." 

2. Helen. — What's that you read? 
Modus. — Latin, sweet cousin. 
Hel. — 'Tis a naughty tongue, 

I fear, and teaches men to lie. 

Modus. — To lie ! 

jj € l — You study it. You call your cousin sweet, 
And treat her as you would a crab. As sour 
'T would seem you think her: so you covet her! 
Why, how the monster stares, and looks about! 
You construe Latin, and can't construe that! 

Modus. — I never studied women. 

Hel. — No, nor men; 
Else would you better know their ways, nor read 
In presence of a lady. 

3. " Now," said Wardle, " what say you to an hour on 
the ice? We shall have plenty of time." 

" Capital! " said Mr. Benjamin Allen. 

" Prime! " ejaculated Mr. Bob Sawyer. 

" You skate, of course, Winkle? " said Wardle. 

u ye — yes; oh, yes! " replied Mr. Winkle. " I — I am 
rather out of practice." 

" Oh, do skate, Mr. Winkle! " said Arabella. " I like to 
see it so much 1 ' ' 



ELOCUTION. 79 

•« Oh, it is so graceful! " said another young lady. 

A third young lady said it was elegant ; and a fourth ex- 
pressed her opinion that it was " swan-like." 

11 I should be very happy, I'm sure,'' said Mr. Winkle, 
reddening; " but I have no, # skates." 

This objection was at once overruled. Trundle had got 
a couple of pair, and the fat boy announced that there were 
half a dozen more down stairs; whereat Mr. Winkle ex- 
pressed exquisite delight, and looked exquisitely uncomfort- 
able. 

See " Five-Minute Readings," pp. 26, 35, 68, 80, 143, etc. ; also, 
" Five-Minute Recitations.'* pp. 95, 108, 114, 127. 159, etc. 

NARRATIVE. 

1. Tauler the preacher walked, one autumn-day, 
Without the walls of Strasburg, by the Rhine, 
Pondering the solemn miracle of life ; 
As one who, wandering in a starless night, 
Feels momently the jar of unseen waves, 
And hears the thunder of an unknown sea 
Breaking along an unimagined shore. 

2. The illustrious Spinola, upon hearing of the death of a 
friend, inquired of what disease he died. " Of having noth- 
ing to do," said the person who mentioned it. " Enough," 
said Spinola, "to kill a general." Xot only the want of 
employment, but the want of care, often increases as well as 
brings on this disease. 

3, Sir Isaac Newton was once examining a new and very 
fine globe, when a gentleman came into his study who did 
not believe in a God, but declared the world Ave live in came 
by chance. He was much pleased with the handsome globe, 
and asked, " AYho made it?" — " Xobody," answered Sir 
Isaac: " it happened there." The gentleman looked up is 
amazement; but he soon understood what it meant. 

See " Five-minute Readings,'' pp. 15, 90, 102, 130, 139, 175, etc. ; 
" Recitations," pp. 13, 51, 68, 73, 100, etc.; " Declamations,'" First 
Part, pp. 15, 18, 22, 24, 43, 114, 141 ; and Second Part, pp. 1, 86, 89, 
157, 150, 165, 175, 183 



BO ELOCUTION. 

DESCRIPTIVE, 

1. The morn awakes, like brooding dove, 
With outstretched wings of gray: 
Thin, feathery clouds close in above, 
And build a sober day. 

No motion in the deeps of air, 

No trembling in the leaves ; 
A still contentment everywhere, 

That neither laughs nor grieves. 

Dream on, dream on, O dreamy day! 

The very clouds are dreams : 
That cloud is dreaming far away, 

And is not where it seems. 

2. The broad moon lingers on the summit of Mount Olivet . 
but its beam has long left the garden of Gethsemane, and the 
tomb of Absalom, the waters of Kedron, and the dark abyss 
of Jehoshaphat. Full falls its splendor, however, on the 
opposite city, vivid and defined in its silver blaze. A lofty 
wall, with turrets and towers and frequent gates, undulates 
with the unequal ground which it covers, as it encircles the 
lost capital of Jehovah. It is a city of hills, far more famous 
than those of Rome ; for all Europe has heard of Sion and of 
Calvary. • 

3c It was a fine autumnal day: the sky was clear and 
serene, and Nature wore that rich and golden livery wind) 
we always associate with the idea of abundance. The forests 
had put on their sober brown and yellow; while some trees 
of the tenderer kind had been nipped by the frosts into bril- 
liant dyes of orange, purple, and scarlet. Streaming files of 
wild ducks began to make their appearance high in the air ; 
the bark of the squirrel might be heard from the groves of 
beech and hickory nuts, and the pensive whistle of the qual! 
at intervals from the neighboring stubble-field. 

See " Five-Minute Readings," pp. 25, 62, 67, 104, 177; "Recita- 
tions," pp. 9, 79, 103, 109, 183. 

DIDACTIC. 

1. To teach — what is it but to learn * 

Each day some lesson fair or deep, 
The while our hearts toward others yearn, — 
The hearts that wake toward those that sleep? 



ELOCUTION. 81 

To learn — what is it but to teach 
By aspect, manner, silence, word, 

The - while we far and farther reach 
Within thy treasures, O our Lord? 

Then who but is a learner aye? 

And who but teaches, well or ill? 
Receiving, giving, day by day, — 

So grows the tree, so rows the rill. 

2. All professions should be liberal; and there should be 
less pride felt in peculiarity of employment, and more in ex- 
cellence of achievement. And yet more: in each several pro- 
fession no master should be too proud to do its hardest work. 
The painter should grind his own colors ; the architect work 
in the mason's yard with his men; the master-manufacturer 
be himself a more skilful operative than any man in his 
mills ; and the distinction between one man and another be 
only in experience and skill, and the authority and wealth 
which these must naturally and justly obtain. 

3. Xow, my co-mates and brothers in exile, 

Hath not old custom made this life more sweet 
Than that of painted pomp? Are not these woods 
More free from peril than the envious court? 
Here feel we but the penalty of Adam, 
The seasons' difference; as, the icy fang 
And churlish chicling of the winter's wind, 
Which, when it bites and blows upon my body, 
Even till I shrink with cold, I smile, and say, 
This is no flattery : these are counsellors 
That feelingly persuade me what I am. 
Sweet are the uses of adversity, 
Which, like the toad, ugly and venomous, 
Wears yet a precious jewel in his head; 
And this our life, exempt from public haunt, 
Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks. 
Sermons in stones, and good in every thing. 

See "Five-Minute Readings," pp. 1, 21, 44, 82, 100, 137, 155, 173; 
" Recitations," pp. viii, 146, 171. 

PUBLIC ADDRESS. 

1. Let not, then, the young man sit with folded hands, 
calling on Hercules. Thine own arm is the demigod : it 



82 ELOCUTION. 

was given thee to help thyself. Go forth into the world 
trustful, but fearless. Exalt thine adopted calling or profes- 
sion. Look on labor as honorable, and dignify the task 
before thee, whether it be in the study, office, counting-room, 
work-shop, or furrowed field. There is an equality in all 
and the resolute will and pure heart may ennoble either. 

2. While you are gazing on that sun which is plunging 
into the vault of the west, another observer admires him 
emerging from the gilded gates of the east. By what incon- 
ceivable power does that aged star, which is sinking fatigued 
and burning in the shades of the evening, re-appear at the 
same instant fresh and humid with the rosy dew of the 
morning? At every hour of the day the glorious orb is at 
once rising, resplendent as noonday, and setting in the west ; 
or rather our senses deceive us, and there is, properly speak- 
ing, no east or west, no north or south, in the world. 

3. In all natural and spiritual transactions, so far as they 
come within the sphere of human agency, there are three 
distinct elements: there is an element of endeavor, of 
mystery, and of result; in other words, there is something 
for man to do, there is something beyond his knowledge and 
control, there is something achieved by the co-operation of 
these two. Man sows the seed, he reaps the harvest; but 
between these two points occurs the middle condition of 
mystery. He casts the seed into the ground ; he sleeps and 
rises night and day; but the seed springs and grows up, he 
knows not how: yet, when the fruit is ripe, immediately he 
putteth in the sickle, because the harvest is come. That is 
all he knows about it. There is something for him to do, 
something for him to receive; but between the doing and 
receiving there is a mystery. 

See "Five-Minute Declamations," First Part, pp. 55, 80, 90, 
100, 104, 116, 120, 164, 177, 178, etc. ; the same, Second Part, pp. 
8, 45,62, 84, 91, 100, 160, 168, 188, 210, 213, etc. 

DECLAMATORY. 

1. You speak like a boy, — like a boy who thinks the old 
gnarled oak can be twisted as easily as the young sapling. 
Can I forget that I have been branded as an outlaw, stig- 
matized as a traitor, a price set on my head as if I had been 
u wolf, my family treated as the dam and cubs of the hill- 
fox, whom all may torment, vilify, degrade, and insult; the 



ELOCUTION. 83 

very name which came to me from a long and noble line of 
martial ancestors denounced, as if it were a spell to conjure 
up the devil with? 

2, I have been accused of ambition in presenting this 
measure, — inordinate ambition. If I had thought of my- 
self only, I should have never brought it forward. I know 
well the perils to which I expose myself, —the risk of alien- 
ating faithful and valued friends, with but little prospect of 
making new ones (if any new ones could compensate for the 
loss of those we have long tried and loved), and the honest 
misconception both of friends and foes. Ambition!— yes, 
I have ambition ; but it is the ambition of being the humble 
instrument in the hands of Providence to reconcile a divided 
people, once more to revive concord and harmony in a dis- 
tracted land; the pleasing ambition of contemplating the 
glorious spectacle of a free, united, prosperous, and fraternal 
people. 

3. Tell me, ye who tread the sods of yon sacred height, is 
Warren dead? Can you not still see him, not pale and pros- 
trate, the blood of his gallant heart pouring out of his ghastly 
wound, but moving resplendent over the field of honor, with 
the rose of heaven upon his cheek, and the fire of liberty in 
his eye? Tell me, ye who make your pious pilgrimage to 
the shades of Vernon, is Washington indeed shut up in that 
cold and narrow house? That which made these men, and 
men like these, cannot die. The hand that traced the charter 
of Independence is indeed motionless ; the eloquent lips that 
sustained it are hushed: but the lofty spirits that conceived, 
resolved, and maintained it, and which alone, to such men, 
" make it life to live," —these cannot expire. 

1QR Se J," ?il e :¥J nute Declamations," First Part, pp. 45, 49, 59, 69, 
124' 139' ill' etc ^ '' ^ Same ' Second Part > K>- 16 > 53 > 107 > 110 > 

DRAMATIC OR EMOTIONAL. 

1. Vain pomp and glory of this world, I hate ye! 
I feel my heart new opened. Oh, how wretched 
Is that poor man that hangs on princes' favors! 
There is betwixt that smile we would aspire to, 
That sweet aspect of princes and their ruin, 
More pangs and fears than wars or women have; 
And, when he falls, he falls like Lucifer, 
Never to hope again. 



84 ELOCUTION. 

2. What would you have, you curs ! 

That like nor peace nor war? The one affrights you; 
The other makes you proud. He that trusts you, 
Where he should find you lions finds you hares ; 
Where foxes, geese. You are no surer, no, 
Than is the coal of fire upon the ice, 
Or hailstone in the sun. 

3. To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow, 
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day, 
To the last syllable of recorded time ; 
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools 

The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle! 
Life's but a walking shadow; a poor player, 
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage, 
And then is heard no more : it is a tale 
Told by an idiot, full oi sound and fury, 
Signifying nothing. 

See "Five-Minute Readings," pp. 58, 70, 89, 93, 150; also, 
" Recitations," pp. 16, 28, 46, 60, 75, 88, 102, 114, 127, 140, 152, 164, 
177, 188. 

Note. Under the head of Style, the selections referred to in 
the " Five-Minute" Series are not always entirely applicable, 
though portions of each are so. Very few selections can be found 
that do not combine in greater or less measure the different styles. 



ELOCUTION. 85 



PAET FOUK. 



HINTS ON ELOCUTION. 

If you have practised and studied the previous pages oi 
this book, you will have gained an elementary knowledge of 
the science of elocution. Carlyle says, "The grand result 
of schooling is a mind with just vision to dis- ~ ,. 
cern, with free force to do: the grand school- 
master is Practice." To make an artist of yourself in elo- 
cution requires much practice and much patience. As Long- 
fellow says, "Art is long, and time is fleeting;" and the 
art of elocution is no exception to that truth. 

You must have health, strength, and elasticity of body; 
and, to get and keep these, obey the laws of life as to exer- 
cise, rest, pure air, good food, and temperance in all things. 
Avoid all stimulants, or tobacco in any form. Practise any 
gymnastics that shall help to make you strong „ , , 
and sprightly, but especially the physical gym- 
nastics here given, as they are designed to benefit the 
muscles used in speaking. 

When you stand to speak, the first thing that strikes your 
audience is the position you assume. Therefore be careful 
to assume and keep the speaker's position until some other 
position is needed for expression ; and return to „ ... 
the speaker's position, as the one which is an 
active position, but gives the idea of repose and confidence, 
without that disagreeable self-consciousness which to an 
audience is disgusting. While you are speaking, avoid all 
swaying or motion of body, unless it means something. 

Do not bow too quickly, but do it with dignity, and 
respect to your audience, first with a general, quick glance 
of the eye about you. Bend the body at the hip- . 

joints; let the back bend a little, and the head mwmg ' 
more than the body. Do not bow too low, nor be stiff in 
your movements. 



86 ELOCUTION. 

How to hold the book has been shown in Part One; and 

Holdin( y° U will . nnd tnat to be tne position that strikes 
book. g the audience most favorably, and gives an im- 
pression of ease, which goes a great way towards 
making the audience enjoy your reading. 

When yon speak, it is for the purpose of making your- 
self understood. And to do this you must articulate per- 
fectly ; that is, give a clear and correct utter- 
T ti<y\%?~ ance °f every element in a word. You must also 
pronounce properly, — that is, accent the proper 
syllable in a word; and, to find out what the proper syllable 
.is, refer to Webster's or Worcester's large Dic- 
r °tion. Cm ~ tionary (Worcester being preferable) , and find 
out for yourself. You must also give the right 
phrasing, subordinating all other phrases to the principal 
Emphasis one > an( * remem ^ erm g that the emphatic word of 
your sentence is tha emphatic word of the impor- 
tant phrase. The emphatic word is usually brought out by 
inflection and added force ; but it may be made emphatic by 
particular stress, or a pause before it or after it, or both be- 
fore and after, or by a change of quality. Your own common 
sense will tell you when these may be proper and effective 
and natural. 

You must also make your audience hear you ; and this re- 
quires, not a loud, high-pitched voice, but — unless dramatic 
expression requires otherwise — your middle or 
and power, conversational pitch, with fulness of voice, that 
shall give you power. Your own mind will regu- 
late this for you, if you will direct your attention to the 
persons in the back part of the hall, and speak in middle 
pitch, so that they may hear. Many speakers make the 
mistake of using a high pitch, and render their 
pitch. speech very ineffective by so doing. You will 
call to mind the fact, that, when we say we can- 
not hear a speaker, it is not that we do not hear the sound 
of his voice, but that we cannot understand the words. 
Bearing this in mind, you will see that perfect articulation 
is what is wanted, and that fulness added to your voice in 
middle pitch will make the voice reach, will require less 
effort, and will produce better effect. 

Having made your audience understand and hear, you 

F ,. must then make them feel. To do this as public 

reader, actor, clergyman, lawyer, teacher, orator, 



ELOCUTION. 87 

lecturer, you must yourself feel what you hare to say, and, 
forgetting every thing else in your subject, concentrate your 
whole being in your utterance and action. Then you will 
be effective, and you will carry your audience with you. 
And you will fail in proportion as you fail to lose your own 
personality in your subject. " The heart giveth grace unto 
every art ; " and of no art is this more true than of elocution. 
You may have all the graces of elocution which practice will 
give you; yet, in the effect these will produce, — if the will, 
acting alone, not being guided by mind and heart, prompts 
the utterance, — something will be lacking, of which learned 
and unlearned alike wilJ be conscious. 

"One touch of nature makes the whole world kin," and 
cultivated and uncultivated alike will feel it; and this 
u touch of nature" you will show if you enter „ , 

into what you have to say with mind, heart, and 
soul. Your voice will vary in all the elements of emotional 
expression, and you will be natural. 

When speaking in public, do not try to remember the first , 
rule of elocution. Leave it all behind you when you come 
before the audience. Speak from your thought and feeling, 
and be sure you are thoroughly familiar with what you have 
to say. Be sure you understand it yourself before 
you try to make others understand. You can faking'. 1 
read words, calling them off mechanically, or 
you can speak words from memory very mechanically, 
and not have a clear idea of the meaning the 
words convey while you speak them. But do not Z^memilnq, 
do this. Always think the thought, as you read 
or speak, in the same manner as you would if speaking ex- 
tempore. You can express your thought clearly by thinking 
it as you speak; but at the same time there may Thought 
be no expression of emotion. Y"ou may have without 
thought without feeling; but you must impress f eehn 3' 
your thought by feeling. When you read, your mind gets 
the thought through the words, and from that thought 
comes feeling; but, when you speak your own thoughts, the 
feeling creates the thought. In reading, you think, and then 
feel : but, in speaking your thought, you feel, and then think. 
When you read, then, or speak from memory, if you will let 
thought create feeling before you speak, you will avoid me- 
chanical reading and speaking, and be effective in conveying 
the thought and feeling both together. 



88 ELOCUTION. 

Yovl can convey emotion without a definite thought ; and 
this is as bad as either words without meaning, or thought 
F V 'th w ^ nou ^ feeling. This arousing the feelings with- 
outTliought' out guiding them by definite thought is the prov- 
ince of the art of music. Elocution is superior 
to music for the reason that it guides both thought and feel- 
ing, for certainly it is better that mind and feeling should 
work together, than either alone. 

The elements of emotional expression are alike in speech 

and song. In each you have quality, time, force, and pitch. 

Emotion The variation of these elements makes expression 

in song or of feeling ; and each sound you make contains all 

speech. t nese elements. It has a certain quality; it has 

more or less of f orce ; it is relatively high or low in pitch , it 

. takes a longer or shorter time. The more you 

expression. var y m the elements of emotional expression, the 

better the effect, provided the variation is caused 

by the variation of your feeling, and not by any artificiality, 

or seeming to express what you do not feel. 

The quality of voice, its purity or harshness, its aspira- 
Oualitv. tion, &c, will vary with the kind of feeling; the 
Force ' °^ e g ree °f force will vary according to the inten- 
' sity of feeling; the pitch will be according to 
' what we may call the height or depth of your 
ime ' feeling ; the movement, or time, will be according 
as the emotion is quick or slow. After having cultivated the 
voice well in these elements of emotional expression, your 
own common sense ought to be your best guide in the appli- 
cation of them to reading and speaking. You, for the time 
being, should be the author of what you read. ' ' Put your- 
self in his place," and express as you feel that he felt while 
writing it. 

It is possible for you to feel intense emotion, and not be 

capable of properly expressing it, so as to make others feel 

Feeling it. You may not have had training that will give 

without you command of sound and motion, those chan- 

expresswn. ne j g Q £ eX p ress i on through which the body is 

made to obey mind and soul, and express their thought and 

Noexpres- feeling. It is impossible to express, even with 

sionunthout the best cultivation, what, at the moment of utter- 

feeling* ance? y 0U d not feel: therefore you must sink 

your own personality in your subject; and, according to you! 

conception, so will you express. 



ELOCUTION. 89 

All apparent effort must be avoided; that is, in the ex- 
pression of the strongest passion or emotion, you must not 
give the audience the slightest indication of want 
of power. You will give that impression if you plwlrf 
try to express more than you actually feel. In 
emotional expression it must seem as if it overflowed because 
of excess, and you could hardly control it; but you must 
never lose control of it. This control will give the audience 
the impression that you feel more than you express, and is 
what is called reserved power. If — your well of emotion 
not being overflowingly full — you use a force-pump, or, in 
other words, your will-power, to make it overflow, you will 
fail in expression. 

How are you to get this, you ask. By study and long 
practice. As you plainly see, it involves a perfect command 
over the feelings ; and ' ' he that ruleth his own h ow to get 
spirit is greater than he that taketh a city." reserve 
Conquer yourself. All art, elocution included, is P ower - 
but a means of expression for man's thoughts and feelings; 
and, if you have no thought or feeling to express, art is use- 
less to you. 

Do not let your audience be reminded that you breathe at 
all. Take breath quietly through nostrils or mouth, or both. 
Form the habit of keeping the chest, while speak- B , , . 
ing, active, as recommended in all vocal exercises; 
and the breath will flow in unobstructed whenever needed. 
Breathe as nearly as possible as you would if you were not 
speaking, that is, do not interfere with right action of the 
lungs. The instant you feel a want of breath, take it: if 
you do not, you will injure your lungs ; and what you say, 
feeling that want of breath, will lack power. The more 
breath you have, so that it does not feel uncomfortable and 
can be well controlled, the more power you will have: there- 
fore practise breathing until you breathe rightly and easily. 

If your general health is good, your throat will be well; 
and therefore pay attention to the general health of the 
whole body, and the throat will take care of itself. 
If, when you come before an audience, your trouble. 
throat and mouth are dry, use only clear, cold 
water, not ice-water : that is too cold. Avoid candy or 
throat-lozenges ; for the use of either of these is worse than 
if you used nothing at all. If you have a cold or sore throat., 
you had better not use your voice; but, if you must use it, 



90 ELOCUTION. 

keep it clear by clear water. A healthy throat will not need 
even water: it will moisten itself after a little use, if at first 
it is dry. 

Deliberate movement and frequent pausing are very ex- 
pressive in some cases. Where it is applicable may be de- 
. termined by what you have to express. Pausing 
in its appropriate place makes emphasis strong. 
Let the pause be regulated, however, by the feeling, and not 
all by the punctuation. Express according to your concep- 

Punctuation. tion of tne .though-. Punctuation may be a 
' guide to you in obtaining the right idea ; but it is 
no guide to correct expression. Pausing, generally, comes 
naturally either before or after, or both before and after, the 
emphatic word or phrase. 

Speak or read poetry with the same care and attention to 
phrasing that you would give to prose, and you will avoid all 
drawling, monotony, or sing-song. In order that 
the rhyme in poetry may be preserved, the pro- 
nunciation of a word may be changed from common usage, if, 
by so doing, you do not obscure the meaning ; but never sac- 
rifice the meaning for the sake of the rhyme. In good 
poetry, which includes blank verse, the metrical movement 
will show itself without any attempt on your part to make it 
prominent. 

You may feel, when you first come before an audience, a 
shrinking, or faintness of feeling, such as is known to actors 
f . , as * ' stage fright. ' ' It probably arises from a very 
btagejng t. sengitivej nervous organization; and, other things 
being equal, persons of this character make the best speakers. 
As to the real cause of this feeling, as Lord Dundreary says, 
"It's one of those things no fellah can find out." But, 
whatever its cause, you can overcome it by strong will-power 
and self-possession ; and, after a time, you will become used to 
appearance in public, and that will establish the " confidence 
of habit. ' ' Some of the best orators and actors that ever lived 
have had "stage fright; " and some of them, so far as we 
know, never had it. So you must not natter yourself that 
this is a certain indication of your power. It takes much 
more than a tendency to " stage fright " to make a powerful 
speaker. , . 

Whether you are reading from a book or paper, reciting 
from memory, or speaking extempore your own thought, you 
should do all as you would the latter, so that a blind man, 



ELOCUTION. 91 

who could not judge which you were doing except by the 
sound of your voice, would be unable to tell. In Reading. 
committing to memory for recitation, you will Speaking. 
remember more easily if you will pick out the em- Rtcltatwn - 
phatic words of the sentences in their order, and commit 
them, as they contain an outline of the succession of thought 
and meaning. 

The look upon the face, the gestures of the arm, the atti- 
tude of the body, all speak the language of emotion as 
plainly to the eye as elocution proper does to the Action 
ear. This action will be prompted by the feelings, 
as the voice is; and it will be expressive or not, it will be 
appropriate or not, it will be graceful or not, according as 
you have natural or acquired ability. Xatural ability will 
be much aided by a knowledge and practice of gesture as a 
language , and much may be acquired by any one with prac- 
tice. 

I have said nothing of action in the previous pages, as 
this book treats of expression through the voice, or elocu- 
tion. A few words here upon the subject will not be out of 
place. When you read, you should ordinarily make your 
voice express much, and use gesture sparingly, but, if you 
feel prompted to make gestures, never do so while the eye 
rests on the book. Look either at the audience, L , 
or as may be indicated by the gesture. When 
you recite, or speak extempore, you can add much 
to the expression by look, gesture, and attitude. * • 
In natural expression the face will first light up, and show 
feeling; and the attitude and gesture follow more or less 
quickly, according to the feeling; and then comes speech. 
And all these must express alike. For the face to be expres- 
sionless, or to express one thing while the speech and gesture 
say another thing, is in effect ludicrous. 

Remember that all motions and attitudes have meaning; 
and, when no other gesture or attitude is called for to express 
some feeling, stand perfectly still in the speaker's Motion 
position before mentioned, that being an active, without 
and at the same time a neutral position. Don't meanm ff- 
move, unless you mean something by it. Don't sway the 
body, or nod the head, or shrug the shoulders, or move the 
feet, or make motions or gestures, unless the proper expres- 
sion call for it, and your emotion prompts. 

The eye is particularly effective in expression, as there the 



92 ELOCUTION. 

emotion first shows itself ; and by it you can get and keep 
The eye. tlie attention of y our audience. In reading, keep 
your eye off the book as much as possible, and on 
your audience. In recitation or extempore speaking, look 
at your audience. The eye leads in gesture, and, in many 
cases, looks in the direction of the gesture. In personation 
of character, as in dramatic scenes, your eye must look at 
those to whom you are supposed to be speaking, as, in com- 
mon conversation, you usually look at the person to whom 
you speak. Never look in an undecided way, as if you did 
not have a purpose in looking, but look in the face and eyes 
of your audience when emotional expression does not require 
you to look elsewhere. 

When you don't wish to use your arm for gesture, let it 
hang naturally at the side. When the emotion calls for 
Gesture ^ es ^ ure ' ma ke it with decision, and let the gesture 
continue as long as you utter words explaining 
the meaning of the gesture. Gesture always conies before 
words, more or less quickly, as may be the kind of emotion. 
Usually, if the words are quickly spoken, the gesture will be 
quickly made, and the words will be spoken almost at in- 
stant of the gesture. If the words move slow, the gesture 
will move slow, and there may be a perceptible pause be- 
tween the gesture and words. No stated rules for 
NO ge % sture! )r gesture can be given ; for they are as infinite in 
number and variety as the emotions they express. 
You will find, however, that gesture may be regulated, as 
emotional expression of voice is, by means of your intensity 
of thought and feeling, guided by common sense, and aided 
by genius. Gesture is a science and art, which, as in speech 
and song, has elements of emotional expression; and these 
elements correspond in each. You have in gesture (as said 
of the others) quality or kind of gesture, force or intensity 
in gesture, time or the degree of movement in gesture, and 
pitch, or relative height and depth; and all these have a 
meaning something like the corresponding elements of song, 
or speech, or other arts. Long and hard study and practice 
will be necessary to perfection in this, as in all arts. A 
graceful habit of gesture, an appropriate expression of eye 
and face, united to a voice full-toned, musical, and varying 
in all shades of emotional expression, — what is there more 
captivating to eye and ear, more pleasing to the senses, 
more instructive to the mind, more moving to the emotions, 



ELOCUTION. 93 

if only it is, as Mendelssohn says of all art, expressive of 
lofty thought? " Every art can elevate itself above a mere 
handicraft only by being devoted to the expression of lofty 
thought." 

DEFECTS OF SPEECH. 

Defects of speech cannot be spoken of at great length hi 
this book. A thorough study of articulation in Parts One 
and Two will cure any of them where there is no defect in 
the mouth. The letter s is more often defective than any 
other letter, it being pronounced like th in thin-, or whistled. 
In the first the tongue is too far forward: in the last it is 
drawn too far back. Cure by imitating somebody who 
makes it correctly, it is often defective by substituting w 
for it; as, wun for run. Sometimes it is defective by being 
made with the whole tongue, something as y is made; as, 
yun for run: and cure may be had by imitating the correct 
sound. Other defects of letters or elementary sounds are 
less common, and need not be mentioned here. 

Too precise speech is a defect, and results from trying to 
give too much force to the consonant sounds, and not a due 
proportion to the vowel sounds. It sounds like 
affectation on the part of the speaker, and may °speech^ e 
be corrected by giving more force to the vowels, 
and particular attention to phrasing. (See " Articulation," 
Part Three.) 

Slovenly speech is a defect, and is opposite in kind and 
effect from the above. The consonants are not 
pronounced; and, to remedy it, practise to give speech. 
consonants more force and precision, and pay at- 
tention to phrasing and emphasis. 

Speaking too rapidly is a defect, and results from too rapid 
thought. Put a restraint upon thought, — that 
is, control it, — and make the tongue move slower speeVh. 
in consequence, being careful to phrase and em- 
phasize well. 

Speaking too slowly is also a defect, opposite in kind from 
rapid speech, and is caused by the mind moving 
too slowly in thinking. The remedy is to think T ™ e f™ 
faster, and urge the tongue to move quicker. 



94 ELOCUTION. 

HESITATION, STUTTERING, STAMMERING. 

Prof. Alex. Melville Bell defines the word "hesitation 11 
to mean " a silent choking effort, accompanying an ineffect- 
ual opening and shutting of the mouth.' 1 "Stuttering — 
repeating over and over the syllables of a word. 11 " Stam- 
mering — a combination of these two, w^ith convulsive 
action of muscles which have no connection with speech. 11 
As the treatment for these varies in degree rather than in 
kind, the term "Stammering" will be here used to mean 
either. 

Dr. W. B. Carpenter, whose "Human Physiology' 1 is a 
standard work with the medical profession, speaks of 
stammering as a kind of "chorea, 1 ' a spasmodic, uncon- 
trollable action of the muscles of speech, similar to the 
action of the muscles of motion in " St. Vitus\s Dance. 1 ' He 
says: " It is a want of definite control over the muscular 
apparatus of speech, connected with a certain mental ex- 
citement. The stammerer is affected by the condition of 
his feelings at the time, and if he fears he will stammer 
that is enough to make him do so. The discipline he has 
to undergo to cure or to alleviate his complaint is fixing his 
attention on the object to be gained, and regularly exercis- 
ing the nerves and muscles in proceeding from that which 
he can do to that which he finds difficulty in doing. 11 

Dr. Klencke, a German physician who made a specialty 
of the cure of stammering, says: "The respiration is de- 
fective in each case, and the mind is involved as well. As 
stammering is both physical and mental, the mind must be 
healed through the body, and the body through the mind. 
Stammerers can cure themselves by self-effort aided by t'he 
teacher, and without such self-effort and such aid they can- 
not be cured. 11 

In some stammerers the cause seems to be almost entirely 
a faulty action of brain ; in others the brain is involved and 
there is also spasmodic and uncontrollable action of the 
diaphragm, the principal muscle concerned in the regula- 
tion of breath in speech. These two causes may combine 
in various degrees, and thus we have stammerers of various 
kinds. Some stammer whenever they attempt to speak, 
others are intermittent and have days when they do not 
stammer. It is a disease, either of body or mind or both, 
and as such it should be treated. 



ELOCUTION. 95 

Simple elocutionary drill will cure in some cases, and it 
should be a part of treatment in all cases. Electricity and 
medicine should be given in cases of spasmodic action of 
the diaphragm, in order to tone up the muscles there and 
prevent the involuntary spasm. Gymnastic exercises and 
bathing should be given to the feeble-bodied in such degree 
as to stimulate and strengthen without tiring and exhaust- 
ing the body. Thorough drill must be given in breathing 
exercises, vocal training, reading and talking, and disci- 
pline of the will-power to govern the action of mind and 
muscles. 

This method is based on experience and on the methods 
so long used in Germany, France, and England with great 
success. It is designed to bring about right relations of 
the will, the mind, the nerves, and the muscles, and cause 
such normal action as the laws of good speech require. 
This takes time. How long it will take depends on the 
complication of the affliction ; the age, health, tempera- 
ment, and condition of mind of the person, the amount of 
time given to exercises, and the energy and perseverance 
with which they are practised. A permanent cure rarely 
takes place under a year from the time of commencing 
treatment, though improvement is seen as the months go 

by. 

The Elocutionary Exercises which are varied to suit each 
case are as follows : — 

1. Special gymnastics to give strength and elasticity 
to the muscles used in breathing and voice production. 

2. Breathing exercises to increase the size of the 
lungs, the elasticity of all the muscles used in breathing, 
and to get perfect control of the air in expiration. 

3. Voice exercises to get control of muscles used in 
voice production. 

4. Mouth exercises to gain control of lips, tongue, 
and jaw, and to enlarge the pharynx chamber. 

5. Exercises to gain control of position and action of 
mouth organs necessary to make each sound of the English 
language, and to gain perfect articulation. 



96 ELOCUTION. 

6. Syllable exercises combining the elementary 
sounds in groups of two, three, four, etc. 

7. Reading — a, by syllables; b, by words; c, by 
phrases. 

8. Reading by sentences as a well-instructed person 
should talk. 

9. Conversing in the same manner. 

If a cure is possible, these exercises faithfully and hope- 
fully practised will do it. If it all depended upon the 
teacher, a cure could be guaranteed ; but the pupil's will is 
his own, and the teacher can only direct him in the using 
of it. It is the province of the teacher to guide, and of the 
pupil, to do. Robert Zug, a gentleman who cured himself 
and many others of stammering," says : " It is not so much 
the system or method that cures as it is the application of 
it." 

Many persons, including stammerers, think that there is 
a short and easy way to a cure, and are therefore led to 
seek the travelling " doctors 1 '' and "professors.'" They 
advertise to cure in one or two lessons, " no cure, no pay," 
and are sure to collect in advance a sum varying from $25 
to $500, according to how much the " doctor " thinks the 
stammerer is worth, and the money is never returned. 
The stammerer agrees to keep forever the great secret 
about to become his, and then he is directed, every time 
he thinks or fears that he is going to stammer, to " snap 
the fingers," or " pull at the vest or coat-button, 1 '' or " fum- 
ble his watch-chain," or " make gestures with the hand, 11 or 
"throw the head back with a little jerk, 1 ' or " talk with the 
teeth closed, 1 ' or "keep the tongue always against the 1 
upper gum, 11 etc. The men who go about with these secret 
methods may honestly (?) believe they have the right thing, 
but they are mistaken, and the persons who are cured by 
their "methods 11 (?) are very, very few in comparison to 
the number who go to them. 

Werners Voice Magazine, a paper published in the interest 
of stammerers, gives this advice: "We unhesitatingly say 
that no confidence should be placed in any stutter-doctor 
who is unwilling to explain the principles of his manner of 
treatment, or who has no fixed place of abode, but travels 



ELOCUTION. 97 

about the country (except he enter the family as private 
teacher), or who claims to work on the plan of ' no cure, 
no pay." 1 It further says : "A competent, trustworthy per- 
son, professing to cure impediments of speech, will have a 
permanent home, will explain his e}'stem fully to those 
needing treatment, and to their friends, and will take pay 
for services rendered, like any other professional man. 1 ' 

The limits of this book will not allow more to be written 
on this subject, but the author will freely consult with any 
one who will call on him, giving all the information he 
possesses as to the various methods of cure of these " pre- 
tenders, " and to methods long used by reliable doctors and 
teachers in this and other countries. 



THE END. 



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